13 Days
by LoVeDoNtHaTe
Summary: Draco was in a cold sweat, breathing hard from the scare, and covered his eyes with his hand for a moment. "What was that?" Hermione asked as she trembled at his side. "It's dark magic...they must really want us dead." JKR owns Harry Potter. Edited. R
1. The First Day

A black carriage stopped in front of a Scottish hotel on a crisp, autumn afternoon. Hermione Granger stepped out, holding her luggage with gloved hands. She closed the door and let out a frosty breath.

"Thank you!" she called to the thestral and dropped two knuts into the coin box. The thestral bowed its head and began to move forward, and Hermione watched till it disappeared down the street. She sighed again. Taking slow carriages like that were much more relaxing than the speedy Knight Bus. It was nice to move slow once in awhile.

Hermione walked briskly into the bright hotel. The lobby of the wizard's hotel was lavishly decorated with exquisite rugs, flowery wallpaper, and ornate furniture. The tall ceiling was bright with thousands of candles that illuminated the room, but Hermione took no time gazing at all the splendor. She immediately checked into the hotel and had her bags levitated to her room. She took the lift to her room on the 13th floor, and unlocked her door. Inside, the small bedroom was not as splendid as the lobby had been, but it was far from plain.

The loo was the first thing Hermione passed upon entering, and the single bed and night table were pushed against the left wall further in. A large glass window faced Hermione and let the sun's rays shine dimly on the beautiful Axminster rug in the middle of the room. A cooler sat in the corner of the room, stacked full. To the right was a door Hermione presumed to be the closet, and a small desk and chair along with a coat rack. Hermione removed her coat, hat, scarf, and gloves, placing the items on the rack before flopping onto her bed with a sigh.

Slow was rare for Hermione Granger nowadays. Right after the war had ended, she had finished her 7th and last year at Hogwarts and, upon graduating, had become an Auror. She had worked nonstop since then for seven years, capturing the escaped Death eaters and putting them on trial. Only the extremely lucky, like the Malfoys, got away scot-free. Now Hermione was finally taking a much-needed vacation. The brochure the Ministry had offered to pay in total for had looked absolutely relaxing. They were paying for the room, salon, the swimming pool, day spa, and even room service and all the restaurants the hotel offered. It had sounded like heaven.

A knock on her door brought Hermione out of her thoughts. She reluctantly got up and looked through the little peephole in the door and groaned. It was her partner.

'Curses to everyone who decided partnering us up was a good idea,' she thought gloomily, and opened her door.

"Yes?" she asked her fair-haired partner.

"You got here alright?" Draco Malfoy replied, and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Of course."

He checked his expensive watch and looked at her again. "It's about time for tea. You want to go out? I heard of this great place near here."

Hermione sighed and agreed, pulled all her things on again, and walked past him. "I don't suppose it's a small café?" Hermione asked hopefully as they rode down the lift. The doors opened just as Malfoy scoffed.

"With someone who has as much affluence as me, I think not."

Hermione huffed in disappointment and followed Malfoy out of the hotel. They walked down the streets of Scotland in silence.

Green hills seemed to be the background of everything and Hermione found it hard to focus on where they were going. "Have you ever been to Scotland?" She asked just to make conversation, and Draco shot her an amused look.

"Besides the fact that our old school was located here, yes."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I meant in this part of Scotland, obviously."

"Of course," he replied airily, and stopped in front of a fancy restaurant. Hermione looked down at her everyday wear.

"Aren't we a bit underdressed for this sort of thing?" she asked, and Malfoy just shook his head and opened the door for her.

"It's a nice restaurant, but the fancy dress isn't required to dine here." He stuck a hand out for Hermione's things, and she handed him her coat and scarf. "Table for two, please," he told the maître d', who nodded at a waiter. The waiter nodded back, took two menus, and led the two to a small, secluded table in the corner. Hermione sat and gazed at the people sitting and eating, all dressed casually in such a nice restaurant. It looked out of place, like seeing paupers in the Queen's castle.

The waiter came by and stopped at their table again. "Good afternoon. May I bring you something to drink?"

Draco looked at the menu, then back at the waiter. "Yes, tell me about your best wine."

"Our best wine is from South America, just in, squeezed in 1942, sir."

"All right, we'll have that, along with your tea of course."

"Are you ready to order as well?"

Draco glanced at Hermione before glancing down at his menu. "Yes, your vanilla scones and crumpets will do."

"Oh, and your pumpkin pasties," Hermione piped in, and the waiter nodded before taking the menus and leaving them. "I don't want wine," Hermione said with a frown. Malfoy just shrugged.

"You didn't say anything. You were too busy people-watching anyway."

"I wasn't!" Hermione said indignantly, and Draco just smirked.

"So what are you going to do back at the hotel?"

Hermione was startled by the question. "Well, I suppose I'll just lounge about in my room and make a salon appointment," she replied, touching her frizzy hair self-consciously. Malfoy eyed it.

"It looks all right to me," he said, and Hermione dropped her hand into her lap, not knowing how to answer.

"Well," she finally said slowly, "what are you going to do?"

He shrugged. "Same as you, I suppose."

"With the salon appointment as well?" she teased with a smirk. He snorted.

"Of course. Not."

They fell silent, and Hermione began people-watching again. The waiter came by with a bottle of wine in an ice bucket, two wine glasses, a silver tea pot, two delicate tea cups on saucers, a plate of vanilla scones, crumpets, and pumpkin pasties all sitting on a levitated tray. The waiter served them, then bowed and left.

Draco smiled and took a sip of tea. "So how are you?"

"Uh, fine, I suppose," Hermione said, startled again. She took a sip of wine.

"You suppose you're fine? You don't know?" Malfoy asked, amused by her.

"No, I _know_ I'm fine," Hermione said, scowling, and bit into a scone. Malfoy followed suit. "You must be a drunk to order wine at this hour."

"I disagree."

"I think we're the only ones drinking wine too."

Draco raised a brow at her before taking another sip from his delicate tea cup. "This is the United Kingdom, love. We wouldn't be the only ones drinking wine in the afternoon."

Hermione took a sip of tea and wrinkled her nose. "The tea tastes very strange after drinking wine." Actually, it tasted decent, since Hermione liked wine, but she didn't feel like complimenting Malfoy's choice.

"What a pity," Draco commented, and Hermione shot him a look before finishing off her scone and imbibing the rest of her drink.

"You know we're on the 13th floor," Draco piped up.

Hermione sent him an inquiring look. "What of it?"

"Some consider the number 13 to be unlucky."

Hermione scoffed. "Unlucky. Preposterous. There's no such thing as superstition."

"Says you."

Draco was beginning to bore of the small talk, when Hermione sighed. "This small talk is boring me," she said, voicing his exact thoughts. "Let's just eat in silence."

"My thoughts exactly," he added, and drank the rest of his tea before gazing at Hermione again.

Hermione burst into her room with a sigh and flopped onto her bed after removing her autumn garments. Tea with Malfoy had been pleasant until he had started asking personal questions. What was with him anyway?

Hermione looked at the brochure lying on her night table, and looked at the things they offered. Four-thirty would be a perfect time for a trip to the salon. Hermione suddenly let out an enormous yawn. Something was in that little meal, making her drowsy. She set her alarm to four. It would allow her half an hour of slumber. She yawned again as she snuggled under her comforter and fell into a deep sleep.

In her sleep, she dreamt of a faceless man. She didn't know who he was, but she knew she was in love with him. His back was to her as she approached him, and she stood in front of him. A shadow covered his face, and he handed her a rose. Hermione blushed and her pulse sped up. She knew he was smiling, and he took her hand. Suddenly, the dream changed, and they were in a wedding chapel. Hermione was walking down the aisle in a beautiful white dress, smiling at her beloved who stood at the alter. She stood next to him, just staring at him as the priest droned on and on, and finally, she heard the words, "You may kiss the bride". She grinned and leant in slowly, closing her eyes. Suddenly, a loud beeping disturbed her. She stopped midway from kissing him and looked around. The beeping continued, getting louder and louder with each beep.

Hermione awoke with a start, the beeping louder now that she was conscious. She groaned and slammed the alarm clock off, sat up, and rubbed her eyes. Even if that man was faceless, she loved him, and she really wanted to meet him, whoever he was. It was a silly thought.

Draco burst into her room through the door Hermione had previously assumed to be the closet. She gasped in surprise, and Draco grinned.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" he asked, and Hermione shook her head slowly, still staring at him. "They got us adjoining rooms, you know."

Hermione groaned and dropped back onto her pillow. He closed the door and sat on her desk, playing with his wand.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, sitting up again, and Draco just smirked at his wand.

"I'm bored," he said, and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Oh, how shall you alleviate your boredom?" she asked sarcastically, and he looked at her, still smirking.

"Engorgio," he said with a flick of his wand. Hermione's covers grew and engulfed her.

"Help! I'm drowning in my own covers!" she yelped, deciding to play along, and it got a chuckle out of Draco as he reduced her covers again. "Are you amused now?" she asked.

"Quite so," he replied with a grin as he put his wand down on the desk. Hermione just sighed and checked her clock and gasped.

"Four twenty-five! I've got a salon appointment!" she cried and quickly got up and pulled on her shoes. "You need to get out!" she said, pushing Draco out the front door, and he laughed. She quickly closed the door and shot him a look before running off to the lift. Draco looked after her and chuckled before heading to his own room.

Hermione unlocked her room and slowly walked in, feeling drained. She had spent an hour and a half at the salon as they attempted to make her hair look acceptable and manageable. And the witch that had sat next to her had talked and gossiped nonstop of things that held no importance to her, giving her a headache. 'Stupid witch,' she thought to herself, and plopped onto her bed with a groan. She looked at the door that adjoined her and Malfoy's rooms, and she huffed and charmed the door to blend perfectly into the wall on her side.

"And stay out," she murmured to an invisible Malfoy, then went and opened her window and grabbed a magazine before plopping onto her bed for a read.

Ten minutes later, Draco burst into Hermione's room through their adjoining door, panic written all over his face. "Granger!" he called from the doorway, "Come with me! Hurry!"

Hermione regarded him curiously, and frowned. "Why should I?"

Draco looked behind him, then over at her front door. He rushed in and scooped her off the bed and rushed them both into his room, shutting the door tight behind him. He dropped her onto his larger bed and turned all the Muggle locks on the door before muttering a quick "defigo." He put his wand in his wide pocket and looked behind and saw Hermione getting up and storming towards him. He quickly grabbed her and pushed her back onto his bed, holding her there. She opened her mouth to scream, but he quickly put a hand over her mouth, muffling the sound.

Hermione's eyes widened and she struggled violently to get free. Draco held firm and held her down as best he could. Hermione struggled to pull out her wand, but she had forgotten it back in her room. She reached up to pull his head away from her, when a loud bang sounded in her room. The two Aurors froze and looked at the door.

"I thought you said they'd be here!" yelled an irritated voice.

"Granger is in this hotel, somewhere."

"She's probably having sex with her traitor of a partner."

"Come on! We can't do anything about it! Wherever she is, she's bound to be here with Draco Malfoy. We'll find and search his room next."

There were no more voices, but loud blasts were heard in the room, and Hermione squeezed her eyes shut in fear. They were certainly Death eaters, and they had just destroyed her wand, those bastards.

When they finished, she opened her eyes and felt Draco stiff by her side. She turned to look at him, and when he felt her moving, he turned to look at her, accidentally bumping their noses.

He moved back and let go of her, but was too afraid to move in fear those Death eaters would hear them. They were Aurors, but they were two against several dozens.

"Why are they after us?" she whispered hoarsely.

"They're after you because you're Hermione Granger, the only Auror they can touch to get close to Harry Potter right now, and they want me because I've turned a traitor and I've been capturing most of them with you," he whispered back.

"How did you know they were coming?"

"I had gone down to get some fresh air, and I was in the lift when I saw the Death eaters storm in right when the lift closed. Of course, I was in a panic by the time I got up to my room, and I grabbed some stuff before going to get you," he whispered, and he shushed her quickly, listening for them again. In a wink, he was at the door, listening intently. "Get under the covers," he told Hermione, and she quickly obeyed.

"What about you?" she asked, but he put a finger to his lips and quickly unlocked the door as quietly as possible. He replaced his wand in his pocket, pushed the door open just a tad, and opened it wider when he saw no one.

"Granger!" he whispered harshly, motioning for her madly, and Hermione jumped out when she heard footsteps coming down the hall rapidly. She quickly joined him in her desolate and empty room, and he shut the door, his hands searching for the locks. He looked at her incredulously, and she blushed.

"I made it look like the rest of the wall so I could pretend you weren't there," she said sheepishly, and he scoffed when voices were heard in the next room. Draco reached into his pocket for his wand again. His eyes went wide when he came up empty, and he searched his other pockets in a panic. "I must've dropped my wand!" he cried furiously.

"Brilliant one, you are," she said, but she was too afraid to say it with much venom. Draco dragged Hermione to a corner and pulled her flush against him. Even in the presence of danger, Hermione still blushed in their intimate position. She heard the Death eaters curse and yell obscene things about them, and she tightened her grip and buried her head into Malfoy's chest. The Death eaters blasted that room apart as the two Aurors in just the next room stood holding each other in fear, trying to disappear into the walls.

When silence ensued once again, she didn't realise she had been crying till she lifted her head. Draco waited for a good ten minutes before he left the witch to her tears and listened through the door again, then went to the front door and opened it.

Immediately, he was being sucked out into the hall, and he let out a cry as he struggled to get back in.

"Malfoy!" Hermione screamed, and ran to him. She pulled him in as he pushed himself against the wall and kicked the door closed. Draco was breathing hard from the scare in a cold sweat, and covered his eyes with his hand for a moment.

"We're pathetic without our wands!" he groaned.

"What was that?" Hermione asked as she trembled at his side.

"It's dark magic. Once you open the door, you're sucked out into the hall and mangled and killed. They must really want us dead."

"Merlin!" she groaned.

Draco looked at her with a sigh and walked over to the open window. "Don't worry, Granger. We've been in tight places before."

He meant that both figuratively and literally.

_It had been their first mission together. There had been an alert of a Death eater gathering at an old, abandoned house in the middle of no where. Hermione and Draco had arrived, invisible and holding hands so they would not get lost, and had snuck in just to find the pot of gold; Death eaters everywhere. Hermione had alerted the Aurors immediately, and the alarm went off in the house. Draco whipped his head around to look at her. _

"_Granger! What the hell?" _

"_What? I alerted the Aurors!" _

"_And now they know we're here too!"_

"_Oh. OH! Merlin!" _

"_Granger! Come on!" _

_They rushed into a broom closet. It was so small that they were pushed against each other, both breathing hard in fear. A Death eater suddenly opened the door, and Hermione had to wrap her arms tight around Draco's waist to keep him from falling out and onto the Death eater. All the dark wizard had seen was an empty broom closet, and he had closed it. _

_Hermione couldn't move her arms from around him, and after a moment, Malfoy had reached out his hands and had accidentally touched her face, then slid his hands down slowly to her shoulders, gripping them tightly. _

"_What the heck are you doing?" she hissed at him, but he had only shushed her and listened till the Aurors came. They did after a moment, and then, in the chaos of battle, they escaped and fought alongside their companions, still invisible, with Malfoy's hands far in the back of Hermione' s mind. _

It had been a terrible mission for the two, but it was an experience Hermione could never forget, and never wanted to forget. If she ever did something that stupid again, she'd hurt herself.

"It's a good thing this window didn't break," he said as he closed it carefully. The glass was mangled, but thankfully it wasn't broken. Hermione leant against the wall, her eyes wide and her hand in her newly-tamed hair.

"How long are we going to stay in here?" she gasped out. "How are we going to survive?"

"I grabbed all the stuff I could out of the cooler and stuffed them into my pockets," he said, pulling out a box of the leftover scones they had from tea. It seemed like such a long time ago.

"You grabbed victuals, but you couldn't grab anything else, like your wand for instance?"

Draco scowled. "Just be glad I got food for us to survive, Granger."

Hermione sighed and took the box he handed her. There were six scones still inside, and she raised her eyebrows. "We left these many scones?"

"Apparently. All the better for us, I suppose."

Hermione took a scone and handed him one as well. They both ate in silence, chewing thoughtfully. Hermione suddenly sighed and felt a wave of sleepiness fall over her. She blinked twice to try and suppress the sleepiness, but a sudden yawn interrupted her and she felt even sleepier.

"I think I'm going to sleep," she mumbled, and he chuckled, but was interrupted by a yawn as well.

"Okay. I think I'll join you."

Hermione walked to a corner of the room away from Malfoy and lay down.

"Not near me. Goodnight," she sighed, and he chuckled again.

"Goodnight, even though it's only six. Also, what was it you were saying about thirteen? No superstition there?"

"Purely coincidence. And because we're Aurors. There's definitely something in that scone," was all Hermione could say before she fell deeply asleep.

* * *

**A/N: Wow, i haven't updated a new story in awhile! I hope you enjoy! Reviews are very, very much appreciated, especially in these times, for me. -LoVeDoNtHaTe**


	2. Aberrant

When Hermione awoke, she felt stiff and very drowsy. She stood reluctantly, however, and went to the loo. She used the toilet, then washed her hands and face and took a drink from the tap. She looked at herself in the mirror, still unbelievably groggy, and suddenly remembered that she was still trapped in the room with Malfoy. She groaned.

In her incoherent state, Hermione decided to wake him up. She walked sleepily toward him, but tripped a foot away and landed on him instead. He received her with a groan and opened his eyes. His eyes widened when he saw Hermione Granger on him.

"Well, this is a surprise."

"I'm too knackered to even think," she groaned, and dropped her head on his chest. Draco just slung an arm around her waist, caressing her side lightly with his fingertips. He sighed.

"We're pissed with sleep."

Hermione giggled, her eyes closed. "Said ever so well," she slurred.

The two lay like that for awhile, till Hermione finally stirred with a sigh. "I'm feeling peckish," she complained, sitting up. Draco's arm dropped to the floor.

He sat up as well and reached into his coat pockets, pulling out the rest of the food he had stored. He put between them two small boxes of chocolate frogs, a sealed container of pudding and another of bottle of butterbeer, four pumpkin pasties, a box of tea, a bottle of water, more chocolate frogs, a small square of fudge, and two small muffins.

Hermione gaped. "They had all that in the cooler, and you were able to fit all these into your pockets?"

Malfoy just smirked. "Of course. I didn't just Accio them out of thin air."

Hermione rolled her eyes and took a blueberry muffin and ate it slowly. It wouldn't fill her ravenous stomach, but they had to savor their rations. "Aren't you going to eat?" she asked as he leant against the wall, facing her.

"No. Not as hungry as you seem to be, although we should probably eat the pudding before it goes bad."

"Put it at the window. It should be cold enough."

Draco obeyed and opened the window, letting in a gust of chilly air. Hermione shivered involuntarily. "You're lucky you have your coat," she said glumly, and he smirked at her.

"I'm always prepared."

At that, Hermione giggled. "Not always."

"That was only once," he scowled.

It was at the Ministry, before they had decided on a truce. Malfoy had just played a trick on her, turning her hair an incandescent green, but had left his wand in her office and could do nothing when Hermione had fed him a Canary Cream.

Hermione laughed at the memory. "Yes, but I could play it over and over again in my head and laugh every time."

"You prude. Laughing at the only trick you've ever played in your life."

"Shut it," she bit back with a glare.

Malfoy just ignored her and brought back the pudding. "It's not going to work. We'll just have to eat it now."

"How do you suggest we do so? With our mouths?"

Malfoy smiled wickedly. "Why not?"

She scoffed. "You're barking."

He opened the lid, revealing rich chocolate pudding, and Hermione sighed. She took the container away from him and dipped her two fingers into it, then began licking the pudding off. In the middle of licking a finger clean, she caught Malfoy staring at her lips with an odd expression on his face. She slowly formed a rude finger gesture at her mouth, and his eyes snapped up to hers.

"_You're_ barking," he told her with a smirk, and just dipped his own finger in and ate as well.

It took them a long time to finish it, eating with their fingers and all, but they succeeded in finishing it, and Hermione threw the empty container across the room. Malfoy regarded her curious action with a smirk.

"Angry at the container, are you?"

"Yes," she answered sarcastically and looked longingly at the front door. "You don't happen to know any wandless magic?"

"No. None to help us out of this predicament anyway."

Hermione sighed. There was nothing to do in the room, so she lay on her back and looked up at the ceiling. She heard a rustle of clothing as Draco stood and went to the window. The morning light shined in, and Hermione sighed.

"What time is it?"

"About seven thirty."

She sighed again and closed her eyes, wishing to doze off again and to waste more time. There was nothing they could do but wait.

Another day had passed. Hermione and Draco had argued relentlessly the day before from being bored for so long. They had fallen asleep with the help of those scones, and had woken up the next morning, sleepy again, but not as cosy as they had been the previous morning.

Hermione was now sitting in the middle of the ragged Axminster rug, or, rather, what was left of it, staring aimlessly at the wall with Malfoy at the window again, and she sighed.

"Malfoy, I'm so bored!" she complained.

"What the hell do you want me to do about it?"

"You don't happen to have any cards with you or something?"

"I don't think so." He searched his pockets and came up empty.

"You're useless!" she yelled, and he glared at her.

"Yeah? At least I got food! What do you have in your pockets, hmm?"

Hermione checked and came up empty, with only a scrap of parchment and a piece of fluff from a quill. She blushed as Malfoy smirked.

"Trying to take work with you now?"

"Oh, shut it!" she snapped and stood and walked to the door and looked out the peephole. It looked perfectly normal outside, and she beamed. "Malfoy, I think it's all right outside now!"

She opened the door before she heard Malfoy yell at her, and suddenly she was being sucked outside by an unseen force that ripped at her clothes and hair, attempting to drag her out into the hall. Malfoy was there before she could even scream, and he pulled her away and slammed the door shut just as she had done just two days before. It seemed like so long ago, now.

Hermione clung to him, shaking with fear and the exhilaration of very nearly escaping death. Draco helped her back into the middle of the room where she finally dropped down to her bottom, still trembling, and eyes wide. He looked her in the eye, searching.

"You all right?" he asked seriously, and she nodded. "Don't ever do that again."

She just nodded slowly, and he continued looking at her, searching her honey orbs, till he suddenly put his hand on top of her head and kissed her forehead before getting up to use the loo. Hermione was shocked by his gesture. What was that for?

Another hour passed, neither really thinking of anything in particular. Finally, Hermione was so bored she groaned loudly, getting Draco's attention.

"Do you know any hand-games?" she asked, desperate to alleviate her boredom somehow.

He just scoffed. "I'm twenty-five years old. Why would I know any?"

"Really? You're twenty-five? I'm older than you. Hmm, not very shocking."

"Well, I'm shocked."

"I turned twenty-six just two months ago."

"September? You're nine months older than me! How strange."

They were quiet again till Hermione sighed once again. "Do you know any hand-games at all?"

"No, Granger! I wouldn't know any hand-games."

"I'm just asking! Do you have any better ideas in that vacuous head of yours?"

"Let's play twenty questions," he replied, ignoring her blatant insult, "and don't lie. I swear I won't if you won't."

Hermione rolled her eyes, but since she had no better idea, she complied.

"Fine. You go first, then."

"All right. What's your favourite colour?"

"Red. How about yours?"

"Ha, ha, typical Granger. Mine's green."

"Ha, ha, typical Malfoy," she said mockingly. "What's your favourite band?"

"My favourite band is the Weird Sisters."

"Really? Ha, ha! That's funny…"

"What's yours?"

Hermione was silent for a moment. "The Weird Sisters," she finally replied. "But it's strange for a bloke to like them!" she quickly added when she saw him smirk widen. That diminished his smirk just a bit.

"Okay. Um, do you have a girlfriend?"

"Currently, no. Do you?"

"I'm straight, you twat."

"I meant a boyfriend, you dolt."

"Hmph. No, I don't. What's your favourite drink?"

"Coffee."

"Me too! Wow, something we have in common."

"I wouldn't think that to be the first."

"Oh, shut it. Your turn."

"Who was the first bloke you ever kissed and when?"

At this, Hermione blushed. "You asked two questions."

"Fine, you can ask two on your turn," he answered with a smirk. "Now answer."

"First kiss was with Ron, in sixth year. Same question for you." Hermione put her cold hands to her cheeks to hide her embarrassment.

"Aw, Granger's blushing! Ha, ha! Well, mine was with Pansy, in third year. Oh, shut it!"

Hermione had keeled over with laughter. "Pansy Parkinson? Oh, lord!"

"Shut it! We were good friends before, and we still are. And it was only a teenage fling, okay? Merlin," he muttered. Hermione wiped tears out of her eyes and sat back on her bottom, still grinning madly.

"All right, your turn."

"How many blokes have you ever kissed, and who?"

That succeeded in making Hermione blush again, and Draco smirked.

"Why are you so interested in my love life?"

"I just am. Come on, now. Who were the lucky, or unlucky, blokes?"

Hermione glared at him and slapped his arm. "Ooh, you! Well, I've kissed Ron, Viktor Krum, Cormac McLaggen, Harry—"

"Whoa! Both Weasley and Potter? You got around, girl!"

"Shut it! I'm not done!" she said, but blushed again. "Anyway, this one wizard named Jacob Smith, um, and Ernie Macmillan."

"Was Jacob a muggle-born?"

"Yeah, do you know him?"

"Yes, I do. Well, how many of them were your boyfriends?"

"Hey, it's my turn!"

"Okay, you can ask two again."

"No! I'm going on my turn. How many girlfriends have you had?"

"I don't even know. Like, fourteen? I don't know."

"Wow."

"How many of those blokes were your boyfriends?"

"Stop asking such personal questions!"

"Answer!"

"Why are you so interested?"

"I'll answer after you answer."

"Good Merlin! Okay, Ron, Viktor, Jacob, and Ernie."

"You kissed McLaggen and Potter for no good reason?"

"It was just show for both. Now why are you so interested?"

"I just am. I'm interested in other people."

"Cut the crap. You are not just interested in other people. You have an ulterior motive."

Draco smirked. "I may."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Since you're lying to me, answer another question. Who's the last girlfriend you've had and when?"

Malfoy laughed out loud at this. "Now you sound pretty interested!"

Hermione blushed again. "Shut it and answer."

"This pureblood girl named Calista Lexeos for three and a half years, and then I broke it off with her about…six years ago."

At that, Hermione's brows raised involuntarily. "Seriously?"

Draco glanced at her, and then looked at the window in thought. "We were thinking of getting married and all, but…I just couldn't do it. I didn't love her like I thought I did. And if you ask me what's become of her, I wouldn't know. She severed all contact afterwards."

Hermione wanted to ask why he broke it off with her, but she knew better. Instead, they sat in silence. She raised her eyes to his face slowly after a moment, realising after a beat that he was looking at the ground, his brows furrowed. He looked up, meeting her eyes, completely serious.

"I don't regret it," he told her. "I think it was for the best."

She just nodded, not knowing what to say.

"Is that why…you haven't had a girlfriend all these years?"

Malfoy took a breath and looked back at the window. "I've been with other birds occasionally, but nothing serious."

"Just for a good fuck?"

Malfoy turned to her, feigning shock. "Profanity from Granger's mouth? Oh, what will her dearest fans say?"

Hermione just snorted. They were quiet again, and Malfoy suddenly looked at her again, his signature smirk in place. "We never did get to finish our little game. Seriousness always somehow kills the fun."

"Oh, you. I don't feel like playing anymore, though."

"You sure?"

"Fine. One last question each. You first."

"If you insist. Would you ever kiss me?"

Hermione wrinkled her nose. "Kiss you? Like hell I would!"

Malfoy laughed, as if expecting her answer. "Okay, your turn."

"Why did you kiss me?"

"I never kissed you!"

"On the forehead, only an hour or two ago."

"Oh. Just a friendly kiss."

"You've never been friendly to me before!"

"Yeah, so? That's all. I guess our little game is over, then."

"I suppose."

They were quiet for another long moment.

"Malfoy?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm bored."

"Already?"

"Yeah."

"Take another scone and sleep."

"It's too early!"

"Who cares? Savor your energy."

"Ah, fine. I don't know what else to do, and you're infuriating."

"It's a sleeping drug."

"I know. Did you poison the scones, or something? Is that why you want me to eat them?" she asked suspiciously.

"No! We've been partners for almost six years, Granger. You should be able to trust me by now."

"I'll never trust you," Hermione replied before biting into the scone. She finished it and watched as Malfoy got up and went to the window. She suddenly yawned. "I hate these scones," she murmured, before falling asleep once again.

The first thing Hermione saw was the darkening ceiling. The first thing she felt was an unnatural weight on her stomach. Through bleary eyes, she looked down at the object, her eyes widening. It was Malfoy's head resting on her stomach as a pillow, and he was sleeping quite peacefully.

Hermione wrinkled her nose and pushed him off, making his head drop to the floor. Surprisingly, he didn't awaken. She walked to the loo sleepily, and used the toilet. Then she turned the tap on, but when she did, nothing came out but a hiss of air. Befuddled, she tapped the faucet, furrowing her brows when only air continued to come out. Suddenly, the foggy air that was steaming out at a rapid pace formed into a hand. Scared out of her wits in her own foggy state, she shut off the tap quickly. The air stopped coming through, and the hand retracted and disappeared.

"Oh, gods," she squeaked out before running to her companion.

"Malfoy!" she whispered harshly. She shook him roughly.

"What?" he snapped, irritated, and she quickly tried to make him stand.

"Get up! Come here! Look at this!" she pleaded, dragging him to his feet. Draco reluctantly got up and was pulled by the hand to the tap. He watched as she turned it on. The ghostly hand came back, this time faster, and Draco's own grey orbs widened in shock.

Hermione shut the faucet off again quickly and looked up at Draco for his reaction.

"Wow. They've really become more powerful," he said slowly in disbelief before walking out. He ran a hand through his hair and sat at one end of the room, his head in his hands. Hermione sat in front of him and swallowed.

"What'll we do?" she asked softly, and he shook his head.

"We can't do anything. We're sitting ducks."

"Malfoy, we have to make a plan or something—"

"Granger. We can't."

"We have to! We can't just sit here and wait to die! We have to do something! Come on, Malfoy, don't be such a cad! We have to save everyone here and we have to _do_ something!"

Malfoy looked up at her. Her honey eyes were burning with a fiery determination, and for a moment, Malfoy held a high respect for her.

"Okay, Granger. Okay. We'll…think of something."

Hermione nodded and sighed.

"It's going to take a lot of thinking, though. We haven't got wands and we don't know any helpful wandless magic."

Malfoy smirked. "Only the two of us together could ever get out of a situation like this."

Hermione smirked back. "Good thing we're partners, then."

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! This story is going along quite nicely at the moment, but please review and tell me what you think of how it's going. Thank you! Please review! -LoVeDoNtHaTe**


	3. The Planning Begins

"Hey Malfoy, wake up," Hermione whispered, nudging her partner. He was still dead asleep, and she frowned. She crawled to the other side of the room and retrieved the abused pudding container. She looked at it for a moment, then threw it at him, aiming for his shoulder. It hit his head instead, jolting him up and awake. Hermione slapped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing aloud at Draco's sleepy, incredulous face.

"What was that?" he mumbled, and Hermione crawled over to him.

"A pudding container."

"What was that for?" he asked sleepily as he began to lie down again, but Hermione pushed his shoulder, forcing him to stay sitting up. He groaned. "What do you want?"

"I've got a thought for a plan."

"Tell me when I'm not sleeping."

"Malfoy! Come on! I'm going to forget!"

Draco sighed heavily, blinking his grey eyes at her sleepily. "What is it?"

"Well, we could jump out the window, and since Aurors are bound to be out there, they'll catch us! And then we'll tell all the Death eaters that we'll turn ourselves in if they take the..._many_ curses off the hotel, and when they agree and do so, we'll Disapparate!"

"And then we'll be on the run for about...ever!" Draco said irritably.

"But we'll be together, so we won't be lonely or..." Hermione's face fell. "Yeah, you're right. It won't work."

Draco sighed and lay down on his side again. "Wake me up when you've got a good idea."

Hermione frowned. "That was a good idea."

"Only in your head."

"Oh, shut it! You think of something then."

Draco shifted his body a little and closed his eyes. "We could try to find the counter-curse for it and then jump out the windows, get wands, and perform it."

"That's not going to work without wands, you dolt!"

Malfoy sighed. Hermione frowned at him again and lay down as well. She didn't notice their close proximity but only narrowed her eyes at him, willing for him to open his eyes.

"If you concentrate hard enough, you could perform Legilimency on me non-verbally."

"How'd you know I was looking at you?"

"Easy. I'm an Auror. I was trained to have a sixth sense."

"Yeah right."

"Shh. I'm trying to sleep."

"Don't shush me!"

"Granger, let me sleep!"

Hermione sat up again and let out an exasperated sigh. "But I'm bored."

"Just go to sleep."

"I'm restless."

"Go to sleep."

"Don't tell me what to do!"

"Granger, how old are you? You can take care of yourself. Let me bloody sleep."

"You're a twat, Malfoy!"

"What for?"

"For being...for...for not entertaining me!"

Malfoy groaned and sat up, blinking at her again. "God, I spoil you."

Hermione grinned. "I'm not complaining."

"I think calling me a twat is complaining enough."

"Oh stop being so sensitive."

"So what would you like to do? Another game?"

"Not twenty questions again."

"Then what else?"

"Let's think of ideas for our escape plan."

Malfoy leant his head against the wall. "I was forced awake for this?" he asked the ceiling.

"Well, Malfoy, time is vital, so we need to think of one soon."

"It's the middle of the night!"

"You know, I haven't heard anyone scream, so perhaps everyone seems to know what's going on."

Malfoy's mouth dropped open suddenly. "I just realised...we're the only two Aurors in this hotel, but we're not the only ones without our wands! There has to be a way to reach someone."

"It's not going to work. Remember the curse in the hall?"

"Well...it's still a brilliant idea. We just need to develop it some more."

"Sure. You develop it. I'll think of my own."

"We need to work together."

"But we also need to broaden our horizons, Malfoy. We can't stick with just one idea that'll most likely go to naught."

"Once I've fully developed the plan, and it works and we get out, you'll be sorry."

"Oh, don't wait too long. In this instance, I'd be glad if you proved me wrong. I want to save everyone."

"Well, once we've acquired the wands, we can then try and figure out the counter-curse for it. Then we'll be done, and it'll just be a matter of finding the culprits."

"It's not going to work Malfoy. Go to sleep."

"Well I can't now! You've worked me up all over this planning business."

"I'm sure you'll get over it."

"It's your turn to entertain me."

Hermione frowned for a moment, then raised her brows at him. "Tell me about Calista."

Malfoy's eyes shot down to the floor immediately at the mention of his ex-fiance. "Never mind. I think I'll go back to sleep."

The origin of the question had just been to taunt him, but now Hermione's curiousity was peaked. "Oh, come on, Malfoy. Tell me. Why don't you like talking about her? It was over five years ago!"

"I don't mind talking about her, I just don't want to talk about her with you."

Hermione looked at him in confusion. "Why's that?"

"I just...don't."

"Malfoy, we've been partners for seven years—"

"Don't remind me," he interrupted.

"—now, and you should know you can trust me with just about everything short of your cold, hard Galleons," she continued without missing a beat. "I suppose we're friends of the sort now."

Malfoy just shot her an odd look. "Why are you so interested anyway?"

"I just am. I never thought it possible for someone like you to fall in love."

Malfoy snorted at that. "You've got a lot to learn about me then."

"I've learnt a lot more than I wanted to concerning you."

After a moment, it was as if she hadn't spoken at all. Draco was looking at her as if he was contemplating to tell her something important. Hermione just stared back, feeling the hair on her arms stand at the intensity of his gaze. He suddenly shifted in his sitting position so their knees lightly touched, his eyes locked onto hers, and Draco's facial features softened the longer he gazed at her. Hermione just stared back, wondering what was wrong with him, when she felt a tickle in her nose.

Hermione turned away to sneeze, the intense staring contest broken along with the tension in the room.

"Bless you," Malfoy murmured, and he turned away. He sighed and lay down again and closed his eyes.

"Goodnight Malfoy," she replied, and moved to the other side of the room, shivering. She eyed Malfoy's cloak enviously before yawning and closing her eyes, oblivious to the pair of bright eyes staring at her through the darkness.

In the morning, the room was freezing cold. Hermione woke up, expecting to feel her hands freezing, or rather, to not feel them at all. Instead, she felt slightly warm, the carpeted floor warm from her body, and a black cloak tucked around her snugly. Hermione was pleasantly surprised and definitely wasn't complaining now. She heard the toilet flush, and after a moment, Malfoy came out of the loo. He saw her and smirked.

"Good morning."

"Morning." She hesitated. "Thank you for lending me your coat."

He just nodded. "My pleasure."

Draco went to the window and looked out. "I hope it rains soon so I can wash my hands," he muttered, and Hermione suppressed a giggle. A lack of water and personal hygiene was definitely not the worst of their problems at the moment.

"This tea is going to go to waste," he added, glancing at the box.

"That's unfortunate for the tea, then. We don't really need tea to survive," she replied, followed by a yawn.

"A square of fudge, two pumpkin pasties, half a cup of butterbeer, three chocolate frogs, three and a half scones, and a box of tea. That's all we have left, and we've only been in here for four days! How about that!"

"Good Merlin, how are we going to survive for as long as we stay here?"

"Only the Death eaters know."

"Any brilliant ideas?"

"I thought that was your forté."

Hermione made a face at him. "Well, the mighty Hermione Granger is asking you for ideas. You should feel so terribly blessed."

Her partner just shrugged at her sarcasm. "I'm still keen about the whole finding-wands idea."

Hermione scoffed. "The only way you could even possibly think of doing that is by somehow breaking down the walls of this place to get to the other rooms."

Draco's face brightened immediately. "Exactly!" he exclaimed, and Hermione involuntarily flinched at his sudden excitement. "The halls are filled with that curse, but not the spaces in between, which makes it the walls! And the walls aren't terribly thick, I mean, I could hear a person snoring next door. Oh, Merlin, Hermione, you're brilliant!"

Draco rushed to hug her tightly before rushing to the walls, oblivious to his slip of name. But Hermione had noticed, and she snorted in a very unlady-like manner.

"Hermione? Since when are we on first-name basis?"

Malfoy just ignored her as he continued listening to the walls. Hermione began to speak again, but he quickly shushed her and continued to listen. Once Hermione quieted, quite irritated, she could hear the faint moaning and arguments of the wizards and/or witches on the other side. The walls _were_ quite thin.

Draco began pounding the wall, but it was still too thick for him to get through. He sighed and slid down against the wall, running a hand through his white-blonde hair in frustration. They were quiet for quite some time, listening to the faint voices and sounds of other people, when his light-grey gaze looked up to meet hers.

"What do you propose?"

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait! it's been quite a hectic sort of few weeks for me! but please, review! :] Any constructive criticism? grammar mistakes? your guesses for the next few chapters? They are all appreciated, so don't hesitate! I'll get back to the reviews with comments, most likely one of thanks! Thank you for reading! -LoVeDoNtHaTe**


	4. Don't Give Up

"It's been six days. Six whole days," Hermione murmured as she pulled Malfoy's cloak closer around her, curled up in a corner that evening. Her stomach grumbled along with her, reminding her again of her hunger as she stared at the few rations they had left; the square of fudge, half a mug of butterbeer, a pumkin pasty, two chocolate frogs, two scones, and the box of tea. Food was becoming limited very quickly.

"How's the pipe coming along?" she called out suddenly.

"It's tougher than I thought!" came Malfoy's voice from the loo.

Hermione sighed and stood to help him, her stomach growling again from the lack of food.

At the end of the fourth day, the two had decided that the only way to break down the walls was by some kind of item, and in the end had decided to sacrifice the toilet. Only Merlin knew what kind of curse would overcome them if they removed the sink pipes.

Hermione entered the loo to see Draco there banging at the pipes with his foot, attempting to get them loose. She giggled at that.

"Malfoy, need help?" she asked, and he scowled at her, sweat beading his head, even in the freezing cold room.

"Does it look like it?"

"A little, yes."

"Oh, you're funny."

He took another kick at the pipe, and Hermione went searching in the medicine cabinets for something easier to either break the wall down with or to unscrew the pipes. She found nothing but complimentary soaps and Wonder Witch products that would not help at all. She sighed at her failure and went to see how Draco was fairing.

He was still kicking at it, irritated that it was not coming loose. He'd been working for an hour at the least, and still it stood firm. He scowled, kicking at it again and again and again. Hermione joined him, and together they kicked at the pipes, looking quite a sight and making quite a racket.

Finally, with teamwork, they had successfully ruined the toilet forever, but had a very bent and sad-looking pipe with a sharp end that had broken off.

"Good work," Hermione said with a swipe at her forehead and a smile at her partner. He just smiled back and ripped off as best he could, another piece of pipe. Toilet water gushed everywhere, but they ignored the damage and instead went back into the barren, charred room and listened to the walls again.

"Step away from the walls!" Draco yelled, trying to communicate, and the people on the other side of the wall went still. Draco kicked the wall, trying to communicate another warning, and then drove his pipe into the wall as hard as he could. Hermione did the same, though she needed more power, but together they were able to stab holes through the wall to look through to the other side.

When the two looked through the small self-made holes, two women, a blonde and a redhead, stared back at them, frightened. Hermione smiled.

"Hello!" she said a little too cheerfully, and Draco smirked at her.

"Good job at scaring them away," he noted to Hermione. Louder, he asked, "We're Aurors. Do either of you have your wands on you?"

The blonde gulped and held a shaky hand into the air, clutching the magical stick.

Draco grinned broadly and looked at Hermione.

"Yes!" she cried and gave him a high-five before taking another stab into the wall.

It took nearly an hour for them to pull away the pieces of the wall, and in the end, Draco broke the remaining pieces with his foot, creating a hole large enough to step through. Hermione went first, stepping into the still lavishly decorated room of the two women, and she grinned at them.

"Hello, girls. I'm Hermione Granger, Auror from the Ministry of Magic."

The blonde nodded at her with a weak smile. "I'm Collette Watson, and this here," she pointed at the redhead, "is Adison LeMausier."

"Hello to you both," Hermione said politely, and she turned to see Draco come next to her. The two young girls began to ogle Malfoy immediately, and Hermione fought not to roll her eyes.

"This is Draco Malfoy, also an Auror and my partner."

"As in husband?" Collette asked.

"No! No, of course not. I mean my partner as an Auror, not romantic relationship-wise."

"Oh, sorry," Collette replied, blushing at her mistake.

Draco forced a smile at the girls. "So do either of you have your wands?" he asked in his smooth voice, and Adison handed Collette's wand to him with a small, confused smile.

"Here." Her voice was soft and sweet. "Um…what happened to your room?"

"Oh. Death eaters," Hermione replied, shrugging nonchalantly, as if it wasn't a strange occurrence. She just earned a confused stare by the two teenagers, and she quickly changed subjects. "So, how did you two come about here? School is still in, isn't it?"

"Oh, we're both eighteen. We decided to spend our last few weeks in both celebration and mourning at this hotel, and Adison had come to talk when the Death eaters came barreling through, looking through our room and then leaving. And then we heard your room blow and it was extremely frightening. We knew there was trouble, so we didn't do anything. We haven't eaten anything but the food in our cooler for days. But it must be worse for you two, you don't have anything!" Collette explained, and the two Aurors nodded.

"Well, we're going to try and find the counter-curse for this spell on the hotel. You don't happen to have another wand?" Hermione asked, and both girls shook their heads.

Draco fingered Collette's wand, reveling in the smooth texture of the wood he hadn't been able to hold for a week. "Would you just scoot to the side, then?"

The girls obeyed, and he shouted another warning and blasted a hole into the wall. The room, Adison's room, was thankfully empty.

"Draco! That was so rash! What if people were on the other side?" Hermione chided him. He frowned and stepped through, ignoring her. His eyes were locked onto the wand laying on the night table, and he grabbed it, handing it to Hermione, whose eyes sparkled as she held onto the magical tool. Draco was enraptured for a moment.

"Thank you so much, girls!" Hermione exclaimed when they went back into the room, and she hugged them both. "We'll be going to our room, now. You can cover the hole with a shower curtain or something if you wish for privacy. Once this is all over, we'll return your wands to you."

Collette smirked. "I think we'll cover it for your privacy," she said smoothly, and disappeared into the loo, returning only with the shower curtain to cover the hole. Hermione blushed and looked up at Draco. His face stayed impassive.

For the whole evening, and perhaps some time into the morning, Draco and Hermione played with spells, seeing how they could remove the curse in some way. Draco had cast a warming charm over their room, but the spell the Death eaters had cast blocked it, making the room colder than ever, and Hermione was stumped.

"I'm getting tired," she finally confessed after failing to stifle yet another yawn. "I think I'm going to sleep." She pulled off Malfoy's cloak to hand it back to him, seeing as he was shivering like mad and felt the full force of the cold.

"It's so damn parky!" Malfoy exclaimed between his chattering teeth. "I think we'll have to share body heat along with this cloak."

Hermione wrinkled her nose, but her teeth had begun chattering too, so she wasn't about to complain. She'd do anything to get warm right now.

"Engorgio," Malfoy said with a violent shiver, and the cloak grew till it was like a large blanket. He and Hermione quickly snuggled themselves under it, grabbing more than enough for themselves. Hermione shivered again, and she turned so she wouldn't sleep facing the other Auror.

"Don't want to see my face before you sleep, eh Granger?" Malfoy asked, and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Don't get all sensitive on me again. I just want a _good_ night's sleep."

"Oh! Very funny. Goodnight Granger."

"Goodnight Malfoy. Don't do anything weird during the night."

"I don't move while I sleep. I'll be right here. Don't do anything weird during the night, Granger."

"Fair enough," Hermione replied with another yawn. She sighed, at bliss for the moment.

The next morning was even warmer than Hermione had anticipated. She awoke slowly to the feeling of pure warmth surrounding her, and she sighed. Even her fingers and toes felt warm, so she flexed her hand, feeling something under it. She wiggled her toes, and they touched someone else. Hermione's eyes flew open and she saw Draco Malfoy in the same spot he had promised he'd stay. _She_, however, had moved from her spot on his opposite side to right next to him, so close that her head rested on his left arm, and her whole left arm rested comfortably on his chest.

But, even though she felt immensely disgusted with herself, she was just too warm and tired to move. She just closed her eyes again, pretending it was anyone but him, and soon dozed off again, dreaming of her family back home.

She felt Malfoy stir, but she lay still, as if asleep. Hermione felt him stiffen when he realised who she was, but instead of pulling away like she had anticipated he would, he just relaxed as well. 'Perhaps he's just lazy too,' Hermione thought, till his arm came around her shoulders and he stroked her arm. When she didn't stir, his other hand touched her face lightly, and she flinched at the unforeseen touch. He didn't retract his hand.

Hermione felt dreamy, as if this wasn't really happening, so she let it pass. It was a very odd dream, that was for sure. Finally, Malfoy's movements slowed to a stop, and Hermione was tempted to open her eyes to see what had happened. Instead, she pushed herself up a little to get more comfortable, when her lips suddenly brushed against something moist and warm.

Her eyes shot open again, and Malfoy's face was much too close. His nose brushed hers when she pushed him away and scrambled to her side of the floor. He was staring at her, then turned his head and lay facing the ceiling, his eyes shut tight.

Hermione's heart was beating as fast as humanly possible. She had just accidentally kissed Draco Malfoy. _The_ Draco Malfoy! Her partner! Her enemy at Hogwarts! The bloke her best friends hated! Had hated! The list could go on and on, but Hermione didn't feel like thinking about it.

She _kissed_ him! It was unfathomable. It couldn't have happened. She was just dreaming. Hermione closed her eyes, trying to go back to sleep, but Merlin himself seemed to have something against her and wouldn't allow it.

Hermione lay there, warm on the outside but shivering inside from the event that had just taken place. There were two ways she could go now; ignore it and pretend like it never happened, or discuss it and see what the hell had happened.

The first choice sounded the best and the easiest to Hermione.

She felt Draco get up behind her, and she heard him walking to the loo, for who knows what since they had broken the toilet just yesterday. She heard the door close, and then splashing from the puddles of water they had created. He was pacing. He didn't know what had happened either. Or maybe he did.

Hermione just listened with her eyes shut, then heard the door open and shut her eyes tighter.

"Granger," came his soft voice. "Granger. I know you're awake. Open your eyes."

Hermione refused with her unmoving silence.

"Granger, we need to continue our spells."

At that, Hermione opened an eye a peek. He was squatting down in front of her, wand in hand, and she sighed heavily in relief. At least he wasn't going to talk about it. Hopefully.

For the next three hours, both Aurors played with spells, basing many of their theories off of books they had both read on Dark Magic. Draco evidently knew more than she, and he seemed to figure out what curse it was before Hermione had even thought of it.

"It's the Dark Lord's own curse he created himself," Draco recalled, unearthing memories he had kept hidden away for his own good. "I don't think it had a name, but as you can see, it's quite powerful."

"But every curse has some counter-curse. Even Voldemort himself, the most powerful wizard in history, had a counter-curse. Well, a foil, I guess," Hermione replied, sitting cross-legged across from her partner.

Draco nodded. "True. The only thing we need to do is figure it out."

"Okay, how do you perform it?" Hermione asked, and Draco shrugged.

"There's a lot of short swishes, flicks, and violent stabs with the wand."

"Short swishes, flicks, violent stabs," Hermione repeated, committing them to memory. "In that order?"

"Well…let me think. I saw it…how long ago was it? Nine years ago?" Draco steadied his wand hand, wandless at the moment, furrowing his brows as he tried to remember. "It was…swish, flick, stab…um, swish, stab…flick, stab, flick swish…flick swish stab." He hesitated. "I think."

"Good Merlin," Hermione groaned, then composed herself and copied his short, jagged movements. "Swish flick stab, swish stab flick, stab flick swish, flick swish stab."

"I hope that's right," he muttered. "And then there was an incantation. Merlin, I can't even remember."

"You can remember the wand movements, but not the actual incantation?" Hermione asked, amused. He glared at her.

"It was traumatising. There's no way I wouldn't remember."

"How was it so?"

"The Dark Lord—"

"Voldemort."

"Yes, him. He just…I remember he performed the curse on a muggle home on one of our raids, one of the first ones I went on." Draco's face contorted at the horrific memory. "I don't even want to go into detail, but at that point I had never seen someone with so much power. I never forgot it because of the devastation that curse had caused, and I was frightened. Really, and truly terrified out of my wits."

Hermione swallowed and nodded. For the first time in years, she regarded Draco as the sniveling coward Malfoy, one of the Death eaters wearing a mask and a black cloak with the Dark Mark on his arm. Her eyes involuntarily traveled down to his right forearm, and she swallowed again. Her partner was a former Death eater, no matter how good an Auror he was now.

"Can I…" she began hesitantly. "Can I see your Dark Mark?" Her eyes were trying to bore holes through his sleeve.

Draco hesitated as well, but, silently, he raised his sleeve up, revealing his pale arm and on the underside of his right forearm, the Dark Mark lay, faded, but still prominent.

Hermione felt her breath catch, staring at the very mark she had spit at with hatred in her younger years. Tentatively, she touched it, tracing the mark with her fingers. She couldn't feel anything but his skin, like how a regular tattoo would feel, and she put her hand over the mark, successfully covering it. Even reformed Death eaters deserved another chance. She looked up at Draco who was looking at her intensely to see her reaction.

Hermione just smiled. She leant up suddenly and pecked his cheek. "I'm glad you're reformed," was all she said before retracting her hand and grabbing her borrowed wand.

Draco took in a deep breath and nodded. "Me too," he breathed, and grabbed his borrowed wand as well.

"So, swish and flick?" she asked with a grin.

"Yes. Wingarium Leviosa," he replied with the same hand motion and a smirk, and Hermione began to float up into the air.

"Malfoy! Put me down!" she shouted. It was fun being able to float, but also a bit frightening. "Don't let me fall far!"

Draco laughed. "I'll catch you if you do fall!" came his reply, and Hermione rolled her eyes, staring as the ground went farther and farther.

"Malfoy!" she finally shrieked, "Put me down!"

Draco just laughed again and dropped his wand, releasing the spell and making Hermione fall with a scream.

True to his word, Malfoy caught her in his arms, succeeding not only in catching her, but staying standing as well. Hermione was breathing hard from the exhilaration of being levitated, and she looked up at Malfoy who, quite suddenly, leant down and kissed her cheek firmly. Hermione scrambled out of his arms and put her hands on her hips.

"Malfoy, your behaviour lately has got me quite perturbed."

"Sorry for that," he mumbled, putting his hands in his pockets. "It must be this…close proximity we're in, spending every waking moment with you and all."

"It's a sorry excuse, but I'll accept it this time."

Malfoy raised his head up with a smirk. "Thank you, Professor. Can I go now without a detention?"

Hermione feigned a heavy sigh and nodded. "Just don't ever do it again."

Malfoy shook his head humourously, and looked up at her again, suddenly serious .He opened his mouth.

"Hermione!" Collette suddenly screamed from the next room, and the shower curtain was pulled back to reveal two girls with frightened faces. "Are you all right? Sorry, it was a belated reaction, but I was in the loo and Adison was too frightened."

"Yes, quite fine," Hermione said absentmindedly, dying to know what Malfoy had been going to say.

"Oh, well, I'm glad! I thought you'd been hurt badly! Adison was thinking of ways to save you."

"Oh, Malfoy here knows enough spells to save my life," Hermione replied, gesturing to her partner. He looked unwilling to join the conversation, so she smiled at the blonde girl. "Well, thank you girls for your concerns, if you'll just give us a bit of privacy."

Collette nodded with a smirk and closed the curtain. Hermione sighed and cast a silencing charm around the room. She looked at Draco, whose eyes were now on the floor.

"Now they won't bother us," she said. Draco looked up and nodded with a forced smile.

"Yeah. Okay, so…seriously now. Swish…Merlin, I forgot."

"That's why you should write it down!" Hermione groaned and moved to a barren patch of floor. "Swish flick stab, swish stab flick, stab flick swish, flick swish stab." The words were now etched into the floor, and she grinned. "Now we won't forget."

"I just need to remember the incantation, and we're set, hopefully."

Hermione nodded. "Well, you can think of it."

She sat on the floor with a sigh and lay down. Her stomach growled painfully, and she winced. "Good Merlin," she muttered and grabbed the square of fudge. "You don't mind if I eat it?" she asked, and Draco shook his head, deep in thought. Hermione popped the fudge into her mouth and sighed blissfully. It was the best from Honeydukes, and she couldn't have felt more peaceful. There was magic in the fudge for sure.

Another day gone, another day of nothingness. It was the eighth day of entrapment in the hotel-prison. In truth, Hermione was beginning to give up all hope. After another failed attempt that just blew into smoke, Hermione slumped against the wall next to the window, and looked out. She could see Auror's trying desperately to get in, but they bounced off some invisible force, and Hermione was discouraged even more. She sighed and suddenly felt like weeping.

"We're dead," she muttered.

"What?" Malfoy exclaimed, and she shook her head.

"We're dead."

A tear fell out of her eye, and she stared at the floor, her eyes unfocused.

"No! We're not going to die!" Draco knelt down in front of her and grasped her hands. "Snap out of it, Granger," he whispered. "We're not going to die."

"Yes, Malfoy, we are," she whispered, and he squeezed her hands and grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her.

"No! We're not going to die here! You need to stop being so pessimistic and use that brain of yours to think up a smart idea for a counter-curse."

Hermione just covered her face with her hands and shook her head, her eyes beginning to water. "No, no," she began mumbling repeatedly.

"You can! You have to!" he said sharply, and tried to look at her face. "Granger! You can't lose it now!"

"NO!" she yelled, hysterical. "There's no way out! Everyone in here is going to die! We're going to die, Malfoy! All these civilians in here are going to die because of us!" she yelled, and broke into sobs. Malfoy pulled her tight against him, trying to soothe her. Hermione wept into his chest, and neither said anything.

"Shh, Granger. You'll scare those two girls if they look in here." He absentmindedly placed his lips in her hair. "If we do die, Hermione, we'll die trying our best to save everyone. If anything, let's go away with that. That we died trying, not cowering."

Hermione sniffled and gripped his shoulders tightly. "I thought I told you to stop that," she cried softly, her voice muffled, and Draco chuckled and kissed the top of her brown head.

"Come on, don't lose hope now, Granger. We've still got our lives to live. People to marry, children to have. And if we don't ever reach that stage because of this, let's at least give the civilians, the innocent ones, a chance at it."

Hermione sniffed again and looked up at him. "You're amazing," she whispered, and leant forward, aiming for his cheek, but instead inadvertently kissing the corner of his mouth. Draco held her close and placed his head in the crook of her neck.

"You best stop kissing me," he breathed, and Hermione sniffed.

"Same to you."

"I'm just retaliating."

"Well, so am I."

Draco chuckled. Even in despair she was still as stubborn as a mule.

"Hermione, get up. Let's go now. Up you go."

Hermione stood and stared at her partner, utterly thankful for him, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. He held her, confused, as Hermione rested her chin against his shoulder with her eyes squeezed shut.

"Thank you," she whispered, staying in his embrace for a little while longer before pulling back and retrieving her wand.

He stayed standing, staring at her, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, the same corner she had kissed. He just nodded, the smile finally breaking through his façade, and he chuckled softly, leaning down to grab his wand as well.

"You're welcome."

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review and give me any constructive criticism! I really, really want you guys to review! Thanks for those of you who did read. Review, please! :D -LoVeDoNtHaTe**


	5. First Loves

It was evening, after another exhausting day of failed attempts at the counter-curse. Malfoy still hadn't figured out the incantation, so they performed spells blindly, trying to find a way to undo a spell they didn't even know. Nine days already gone by in total, four days wasted, and still no real progress.

Death had always been a constant factor in Hermione's mind, being an Auror and all, but now it was all she could think about as she lay that night under Malfoy's enlarged cloak. She lay on her side, facing him, and he on his back, facing the ceiling. The silence they basked in was comfortable, the darkness penetrated only by the full moon outside. The sound of a howl brought thoughts of Remus Lupin and his death, and of Teddy, the son he never got to know.

"How do you think we're going to die, Malfoy?" Hermione asked softly, trailing her finger in the dust.

"I think you're going to die from your own inanition," he replied with a sigh.

"You're quite funny," she commented sarcastically, evoking a chuckle out of him.

He sighed again and turned his head to her. "Well, I don't know. We could die in action as Aurors, we could die in this hotel and never succeed, or we could die when we're very, very old because of our age."

"Dumbledore lived quite a long life. He was in his two hundreds." She was quiet for a moment, thinking. "I wouldn't want to live that long."

Draco's eyes, that had been following her slender hand, shot up to meet her honey-brown orbs. "Why's that?"

"Well, you'd see the world crumbling in front of you. What if there's another war?"

"There won't be another one," he assured her, but Hermione sighed.

"And even though I'd be able to see my great, great grandchildren grow up, I would feel so…so tired of life. There'd be nothing new for me, and having to suffer all those old-age pains; it would really infuriate me."

"I don't know," Draco said, his eyes back on her hand. "I'd like to live to be two hundred, maybe longer. I'd like to see things change and grow and evolve."

Hermione chuckled. "You know, the average lifespan of a Muggle is only about 75 years old."

"Crikey, that's young. It just goes to show that wizards will always be the superior race."

Hermione glared at him, and he smirked. "Compared to here, it is a short time, but Muggles are just as capable as wizards are, they just don't have magic to help them. But there are always exceptions in both cases, I suppose."

"Hmm."

They sighed at the same time, and Draco met her eyes again with a grin.

"Malfoy, tell me about Calista," she suddenly murmured, her eyes closed, and Draco hesitated.

"Well, I don't really want to talk about her."

"Come on, Malfoy."

Her eyes opened and she looked at him for a moment with her honey-brown orbs, and Draco hesitated again and looked at the ceiling.

"Well, she was a really beautiful girl, a well-raised pureblood with high standards. My parents approved of her and liked her a lot, like I did."

"What did she look like?"

He swallowed. "She had long, wavy, rich brown hair, the bluest eyes I've ever seen, and a really pretty face, not just made up with jewels and make-up and money, but naturally beautiful." He sighed, looking at the ceiling again. "She was tall, about as tall as you, actually, and very well-mannered, proud, elegant; she had this power over everyone she met, and she knew what she wanted, and she knew how to get it." He smiled in the dark.

"She sounds lovely," Hermione murmured, and Draco sighed again.

"She is. She had the greatest smile too that'd drive blokes mad, with perfect white teeth, and such pretty eyes. I'm a sucker for that."

"The eyes?"

"Yeah." He turned to look at Hermione, and smiled a little to himself. "I used to always be on about looks and social status, but now, the personality matters just a little bit more to me."

"Why'd you break it off with her? You both were engaged too, right?"

"Yeah. Dating for three years and engaged for six months. I just…I…" Draco looked at Hermione, watching as she listened with her eyes still closed. He let out a sigh. "I met someone else."

Hermione frowned. "But I thought you said you didn't date anyone else seriously after her."

"I didn't. This person just…well, she unknowingly convinced me that I didn't love Calista as much as I thought."

Hermione smiled. "How is that? No one sounds as perfect as Calista."

"No, she had flaws. Everyone has flaws. And love is really quite strange, so I've found out."

"I second that," Hermione murmured. "Where'd you meet her?"

"I first met her when I was fourteen. She went to the Beauxbatons Academy, and her mother knew my mother. So we met when they visited the manor, and we were polite, and she left again. I met her for the second time when I was seventeen, at the ball celebrating the Dark Lord's defeat. I was entranced by her; she'd grown up a lot, and so we talked and one thing led to another, and…we started dating."

"How entrancing," Hermione sighed. "It is too bad you broke it off with her. She sounds like a great catch."

"Yes, she was."

Hermione yawned and turned her back on him. "I would regret it if I let someone like her go," she mumbled, and sighed.

"Swinging the other way on me, eh Granger?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood. Hermione opened her eyes and smiled.

"No, Malfoy. Why'd you become an Auror, though?"

Draco was silent, contemplative. "I'm not a good person, Granger," he said finally, and it was Hermione's turn to be silent. "I do things for myself. I step on people to get what I want, I'll do anything to get what _I_ want. I've done terrible things."

"Malfoy," Hermione interjected. "That was in your past. You can't carry that guilt around with you forever."

"Don't interrupt, Granger. I did carry that guilt around since the war ended, and I never really got over it. Calista…" he broke off here and swallowed, hesitant, but determined to finish. "Calista helped me to see that I can't live in the past, and guilt is just…just something to get over. She certainly was no saint, though." He chuckled. "But she had heart and was stubborn and passionate, and she was able to get me to stop feeling sorry for all my sins. I wasn't good enough for her. I'm not good enough for anyone, but…in a way, becoming an Auror was a way to atone for my sins, or so I convinced myself once I got this job. Calista told me to become an Auror to help ease my mind, and, in a way, it did."

Hermione turned back around and sighed. "Malfoy, I'm glad you became an Auror."

"I do remember some kind of, what was it, cold incivility towards me," he reminded her with a smirk.

"Granted, I wasn't thrilled to learn you'd become an Auror at first, much less my partner later on, but…I'm glad now." Hermione met his eyes and smiled. "If you weren't my partner I'd be stuck in here, probably trying myself to figure out how to escape with my rash decisions, and I might've given up all hope, if it wasn't for you."

Malfoy just smirked. "Good to know you can't live without me, Granger."

She snorted and turned her back on him again. "Right."

"So did you have any potential husbands in your life?"

"No, none of them actually proposed, but…I suppose…"

"Weasel? I bet it was him."

"Come off it, Malfoy, we're past childish name-calling."

He replied with a scoff.

"I think Jacob and I were on the verge of getting engaged. He's the only bloke I ever really felt that strongly for."

"Who broke it off?"

"I did. He was…I actually don't know why. I think it was over some silly row, and he never came back like he usually did. I don't know what happened."

Malfoy was silent.

"I just…oh, bugger, I don't even know why I'm telling you this," Hermione groaned, covering her face with her hands.

"Well, you owe me an explanation since I gave you quite a detailed one about Calista."

"It's still very awkward."

Malfoy was contemplative again. "He's got an equine face."

"Oh, Malfoy, he doesn't!"

"Yes, he does, Mrs. Smith."

"Malfoy, stop being such a git. I don't love him anymore, if that's what you want me to say."

"So if you had to choose between Weasley, Potter, Smith, or me, who would it be?"

Hermione just rolled her eyes. "You got enough out of me tonight. Goodnight, git."

Malfoy chuckled. "Night, you insufferable witch."

* * *

**A/N: the lack of reviews are really discouraging me. it doesn't seem like many people like this story, and it makes me really sad... please review and critique me and tell me what you think of this so far, please! i really do appreciate each and every one of your reviews, and i apologise for not replying to them! i will try harder! :D review! -LoVeDoNtHaTe**


	6. Oh My Merlin

November 21. Eleven days. Food was scarce; all there was left was a scone and a quarter of butterbeer and the box of tea. Outside, it was pouring buckets of rain down, both on the hills of Scotland as well as the inside their hotel room. Hermione was lying on her back, eyes closed, her stomach painfully empty. Malfoy was swishing his wand around lazily, slouched against the wall, his eyes half-lidded. He yawned suddenly and groaned as he dropped onto his side, closing his eyes and dropping his wand in front of him.

"Merlin, I've got an appetite," he groaned, and Hermione mumbled an agreement. "What does it take to get some fucking food with _wands_?"

"You know as well as I do that we can't summon it, or we'll be taking food from someone else who probably needs it more than we do," Hermione replied, her stomach emanating a wretched groan.

"God, I think I'm going delirious," Malfoy complained, and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Stop being such a baby."

"Ugh, I'm going to retch."

"Oh my Merlin, Malfoy, shut up. You've got nothing in you to retch, except perhaps your—"

"I want food!"

"Shut up!"

"I'm so famished…"

"Oh for the love of Merlin…" Hermione stood up and handed him the last scone in the box. "Eat it and go to sleep! Stop annoying me!"

Draco gazed at the stale scone with a bit of contempt. "Let's split it. No sense in both of us going mad with hunger."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "For the love of Merlin. _I'm_ not going mad, _you_ are. Eat it!"

He took the scone and broke it in half, eating his half in a surprisingly civilized manner, not scarfing it down like Hermione had expected.

"Good?" she asked sarcastically, and he yawned.

"Great. Some tea would go well with it," he muttered, and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"I'm sure we could have some cold tea. I mean, it's pouring outside, and most of the rain is dripping in anyway."

"Perfect." Malfoy flashed a bright smile at her, and Hermione crossed her arms.

"Oh no, I'm not going to get it."

"Oh come on, you're standing already!"

Hermione shook her head defiantly, and they stared at each other for a little while, trying to break the other, until Malfoy finally groaned loudly.

"Fine, fine! I'll do it!"

Hermione chuckled and held out a hand to help him up. He accepted, and she followed him to the window, where the rain continued to pour both outside and inside. Draco took the butterbeer bottle and finished the rest of its contents, licking his top lip to get every stray drop, before sticking his arm outside into the cold rain, holding the bottle and catching raindrops by the hundreds.

"Huh. I wonder why we can get out, but the Aurors can't get in," Draco observed quietly, and Hermione shrugged.

"I suppose it's sort of like the way a muggle locks some doors, with a key. You can get out of the room if the lock is on your side, but you can't get in unless the door is opened by the person on the inside, or by a key. The key would be the counter-curse; the people inside would be us. The locked door would, obviously, be the curse itself."

Draco pulled his arm in, shivering. "Merlin it's cold. And that makes a lot of sense. We just need to find the counter-curse…locked door, huh?"

"Yes, locked door."

Draco suddenly furrowed his brows. "Locked door."

"Um, yes…the locked door…"

Draco's face had changed from his usual haughty self to a look of intense thought. He absentmindedly handed her the cup of cold water, and Hermione put in a bag of Earl Grey tea. She watched as Malfoy began pacing back and forth across the weary floor, running a hand through his greasy hair every so often. He was mumbling something, something Hermione couldn't hear, until finally he dropped down to the floor, closed his eyes tight, and was still.

Nervously, Hermione took out the tea bag and put it on top of the box, ensuring its reuse, and sipped the cold tea, still watching him. She could almost see the wheels turning in his head as he thought. For a long moment, it seemed like time stood still, till he finally opened his light grey eyes and looked at her.

"Granger, what's 'locked door' in Latin?" he asked, and Hermione furrowed her brows.

"Well…I'm not quite sure. The 'locked door' comes from the term, 'to bolt door', which in Latin, is translated to 'obfirmo ianua'."

"Always the swotty one, eh Granger?" Malfoy asked, laughing suddenly, and he bolted up. "I wish there was some way I could try this!" he yelled, and Hermione's eyes widened.

"What is wrong with you?" she exclaimed, and he laughed again.

"The incantation! I remember it! It's Obfirmo Ianua! The Latin term, to bolt door! To bolt the fucking door! Obfirmo Ianua!"

Hermione's eyes opened even wider. "What?" she squealed and laughed, euphoria sweeping her up as well. "You're a genius, Malfoy! I just wish there was some way we could test it!"

"I know. But, okay, the opposite of Obfirmo Ianua is…"

"…is the 'unlocked door', to…'to disclose door'…oh, hell, I can't remember! To…to…"

"To what, Granger?" Malfoy asked desperately.

"Shut up! I can't think when you're yelling at me. To…to…close door…disclose, unlocked…"

Draco waited patiently, watching her pace the way he had been only a short moment ago.

"It's pat…pate…something ianua! Oh, Merlin, I can't remember! Smart ol' Hermione, don't fail me now!"

She was muttering to herself, and Draco watched, amused, but also in a mild state of panic. If she couldn't remember, and since he himself was not very skilled in Latin, they were…

"Patefacio!" Draco suddenly shouted, and Hermione turned on him.

"Yes! Patefacio! Patefacio Ianua. That must be the counter-curse! Draco Malfoy, you've done it!" she squealed happily and embraced him briefly. "Good Merlin! How did you know?"

Draco smirked smugly. "The tutor I had when I was young was a lover of language, and he taught me things in Italian, Latin, French, Greek, Russian, German, and all sorts of languages. I don't remember any, actually, but I do remember yelling at my house elf as a young boy, 'Patefacio!', because it was such a fun, big word to say, to my little self, that is."

Hermione grinned. "I didn't know you had a tutor!"

"What, did you think my mother taught me to read and write as a young boy?"

"I…well…"

"Although we didn't really get proper schooling till eleven, we affluent purebloods hired tutors for the children."

"Right. I should've known," Hermione said, and shrugged. "The Weasleys didn't have one, but I suppose it's because the children didn't grow up wealthy."

"That's about right."

Hermione made a face at him. "Oh, shut up," she retorted good-naturedly, and Draco just grinned.

"Come on, let's try the counter-curse. The counter movements of all those wand swishes would just be the same thing, only reversed."

Hermione nodded, smiling brightly, and picked up her wand and focused on the list she had etched onto the floor. They both practised a few times before finally looking at each other and smiling. In unison, they began the wand movement; stab, swish, flick, swish, flick, stab, flick, stab, swish, stab, flick, swish…

"Patefacio Ianua!"

A bright light sparked from both of their wands, but then it was silent. Draco and Hermione stood stock still, waiting for some reaction, breathless in anticipation.

Nothing happened.

Confused, the two adults tried the spell again and again, but it was to no avail. They had failed.

"Merlin!" she yelled, and dropped down to her knees and covered her face. Draco dropped his wand in utter shock and disappointment, staring, dazed, at the blank wall.

"That has to be it...it has to be it!" He was suddenly hysterical. "THAT IS THE BLOODY FUCKING RIGHT SPELL! BLOODY FUCKING HELL!"

He kicked at the wall in front of him, punching it, seemingly trying to get to the other side using force. Hermione, in tears, stood and grabbed his shoulders from behind, trying to pull him away, and he cursed louder at the wall before sinking heavily onto Hermione.

"Bloody hell," he said, and Hermione nodded in agreement.

"We were close, Malfoy, so close. So close to getting out, to freeing all these damn people…"

Draco looked at her, his eyes depleted of hope.

"Stop being so optimistic, Granger. We were never close. And now we're going to die."

"Yes, we probably are. We were so close, though, so close…"

She was cut off by Draco Malfoy himself. He embraced her tightly, his arms encompassing her upper body flush against his, and kissed her straight on the lips, the kiss both gentle and urgent, as if he'd been waiting a lifetime to kiss her.

Hermione was beyond shocked. If it had been any other time, she would have pushed him away violently and hexed him, but they were going to die without seeing anyone else, ever. So she indulged in what was most likely to be the last kiss of her life.

They kissed for what seemed a long time, his arms not loosening their hold, and Hermione had her hands on his waist. Hermione was feeling her toes curl, her breath catch, her insides tingling, and her soul searing; it was one of those kisses, the ones that gave a feeling all girls want to experience at least once in their lives.

Draco's hands had finally moved from holding her tight against him to touching her hair and her face, his eyes clenched tight, as if he was only in a dream. Hermione's arms had moved from around his waist to around his neck, feeling his hair, albeit greasy from the lack of showering. But so was hers.

Finally, Hermione had to pull away, and Draco's head fell against her shoulder, his breath hitching occasionally as he took deep breaths. He was holding her close again, tight, as if she was going to disappear if he let go, and Hermione didn't move for fear of breaking the moment.

Draco looked up again, his eyes shining, his face serious and longing, and he cupped her face with his soft hands and kissed her again, and again, and again.

Hermione was dizzy with all the oxygen-depriving kisses, but at the moment, she didn't mind. It was the last she was going to have anyway.

"Merlin, Hermione," he sighed against her lips, and she smiled.

"Merlin, Draco," she replied, mocking him, and he chuckled, kissing her yet again.

"Malfoy, we need to stop now," she finally said, trying to pull away, though he protested. He held her close instead, head resting beside her own, and Hermione sighed.

"If anyone deserves to live, Hermione, it'd be you."

She looked up at him, shocked. "What?" she whispered, and he looked down at her.

"I told you before, I'm a bad person; sometimes I feel like I don't deserve even to live. You've done some good to the world, and if anyone is to live between the two of us, it should be you. Go fulfill your original plan, Granger. Jump out the window to the Aurors, and you'll be able to free the world of Death eaters."

"No, Malfoy, we're in this together. They want _both_ of us, not just you. So stop trying to be the selfless hero, because that's my job."

Hermione smiled to show she was partially joking, but Draco sighed.

"I don't want you to die. Least of all because of me."

"Malfoy, being a heroine of the war and Harry Potter's best friend comes with its grievances, one of them being stalked by Death eaters all the time. I'm used to it. Being an Auror puts my life on the line all the time as well."

"Hermione—"

"No, Draco, listen to me. I'm not going to leave you alone here to die. If we die, we die together in this blasted room. You won't die alone."

Draco sucked in a breath and kissed her again. "I knew you'd argue your point," he whispered, and Hermione chuckled.

"I'm Hermione Granger, of course I'd argue my point. Besides, what happened to the cowardly Draco Malfoy?"

He ignored her question, smiled, and kissed her again. She smiled as well. "You're warm."

"So are you. Body heat really is the best thing to keep warm."

"Yeah," Hermione sighed, and she closed her eyes. "I suddenly feel tired."

"Probably a belated reaction from the scone. Lie down; sleep."

"I think I will," she replied with a yawn, and she pulled away from him and snuggled under the large cloak, feeling deliciously warm from the remnants of Malfoy's body heat combined with the shelter of the cloak.

"Night, Malfoy," she murmured, and he brushed a hand through her hair.

"Good afternoon."

"Right. Good afternoon."

Draco smiled, and all was still.

"Hermione Granger! Draco Malfoy!" came a piercing shriek from the other room. The shower curtain was pulled to the side as Collette came rushing through to wake the Aurors. Draco had fallen asleep with his face resting on Hermione's backside, but the usual dramatic and romantic Collette had no time to exclaim how cute they were. She rushed to Draco, who was the closest to her, and shook him rather roughly. He awoke with a start and leapt to his feet, his borrowed wand at the ready. Collette put her hands up, trembling, tears in her eyes.

"Sorry to wake you so abruptly, sir," she squeaked out, and Draco lowered his wand and rubbed his eye.

"What do you want?" he asked, and Collette sniffed.

"Someone's in the other room, Draco. I think Adison and I know that person too! They're next door to Adison's room, and they've been banging on the wall an awful lot. I think they're going to die!"

Draco sighed heavily. "We're all going to die!"

Collette sniffled, and Draco immediately regret saying that.

"I was just being sarcastic. Didn't mean to frighten you. Anyhow, I'll go take a look."

Draco looked down at his partner, and decided to wake her as well at the very last minute. He shooed Collette out with a promise to blast open the wall for the other person, and then, with a surprising gentleness, knelt down and shook Hermione. "Wake up," he murmured in her ear, kissing her till she finally, and involuntarily, smacked him in the face. He jolted his head up immediately in surprise.

"Gods, what is it?" she groaned, and Draco rolled his eyes, his hand rubbing his cheek.

"Get up, woman, we've got a call."

Hermione jumped up immediately, an involuntary reaction from all her years as an Auror. "What's the call?"

"Collette burst in here begging that we blast open a wall to reunite them with some friend of theirs," Draco informed her as he stood up as well.

Hermione sighed. "And you had to wake me up? Bugger."

Draco just smiled and kissed her. "Don't complain. You signed up for this job."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh, right. Well, on we go then."

The two went through Collette's room to Adison's, the brighter and much prettier room, where Collette and Adison were attempting to bang messages through the wall. Someone was banging back with fervor, and Hermione sighed. She moved the girls aside, and cleared her throat.

"Move away from the wall!" she yelled as loud as she could, her voice cracking in the middle. Draco stifled a grin, and Hermione cleared her throat again embarrassingly. She shouted the warning again, before blasting a hole in the wall to another room. There was no one in sight, until finally, a body came into view from the side. The blonde, green-eyed young man smiled beautifully, but when he saw the Aurors, his face contorted into complete shock.

Hermione gasped and covered her mouth, her eyes wide, and Draco's jaw dropped.

"Jacob Smith!" Collette and Adison cried, and threw themselves at the muggle-born wizard.

* * *

**A/N: Ooh, cliff hanger! Sorry about that, but you'll like the next chapter, hopefully. A big HUGE thanks to all those who reviewed so encouragingly! It was absolutely a tremendous bunch, compared to all the reviews I've had so far on this story (which were very little). I appreciate all your reviews, no matter how short, and I thank you again, dear reviewing readers! I do hope you like this story! Please review! Thanks! Till the next chapter! -LoVeDoNtHaTe**


	7. Moving On

Jacob Smith embraced the two girls, his eyes still locked with Hermione's. He dusted himself off when Collette and Adison released him, and Adison beamed.

"Jacob! I'm so glad you're safe! These are our new acquaintances, Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger. They're Aurors."

Jacob just nodded at them both. "I know them, Adi."

Adison looked at the three adults, confused. "How?"

"We—" He gestured with his arm, "—just all know each other from work. And by other…relations."

Hermione swallowed.

Draco regained his composure and approached Jacob. "Hello, Smith. Nice to see you again. Not under these certain predicaments, but…"

Jacob shook Draco's hand and nodded. "I know what you mean. Nice to see you too, again, Malfoy."

The two men seemed to be straining just to act cordial to one another. Jacob looked at Hermione and took a step toward her.

"It's really corking to see you, Hermione."

Hermione just nodded and let her hands fall to her sides. "You too, Jacob." She politely held out a hand, which he grasped immediately in a brief handshake.

"Well, we're glad to help," Hermione finally spoke up after an awkward silence. She looked up at her partner. "Come on, Malfoy." To the others, she said, "We'll be in our room. Just call us if you need help."

With that, Hermione walked back to her room, very aware of Jacob's green eyes on her. Draco turned once to nod at Jacob and the girls, and followed Hermione out.

In their room, Hermione paced with her hand on her forehead. "Oh Merlin, what is he doing here?" she exclaimed quietly. Draco kept his distance.

"A really strange coincidence," he muttered, and Hermione nodded.

"A really, _really_ strange coincidence! This is the weirdest thing ever! Maybe it's fate!"

"It's just a coincidence," Draco snapped sourly.

"You're probably right. Jacob and I didn't end on good terms anyway. I—"

"Hermione?"

Hermione whipped around to see the figure holding the shower curtain back. "Jacob!"

Draco scowled.

"Hermione, can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked quietly, and Hermione nodded, her cheeks flushed. She followed him out without a glance at Draco, whose scowl deepened.

In Jacob's room, Hermione quietly sat on the bed as Jacob cast a silencing charm around his room and went into the loo to get the shower curtain.

"That shower curtain idea was quite genius," Jacob said as he covered the hole. "Was it your idea?"

"Yes."

Jacob smiled. "I thought so."

He successfully covered the hole with his own shower curtain, and joined Hermione on the bed, a little too close. Hermione swallowed nervously.

"Hermione, I know we didn't end on such great terms. I mean, we broke up because of some stupid row that I can't even remember anymore. And, I mean, it was nearly nine months ago. Then I heard you went out with Ernie Macmillan for three weeks before breaking it off with him too. And we look almost exactly alike!"

Hermione crossed her arms and sighed. "Well, yes, I suppose you two do look similar."

"Hermione."

"Jacob, I honestly don't remember what our stupid row was about either."

"Hermione, I love you, really I do. I'm still not over you, and I don't know if I can ever get over you."

"Jacob—"

"No, Hermione, hear me out. I still love you. I think you're an amazing, brilliant woman, and a talented Auror, and I want you back. I'm sorry for not apologising nine months earlier, and I'm sorry I didn't try and contact you. I had to go to Romania for some dragon issues, but I assure you, I did try and contact you, but I suppose you didn't have time to respond, fighting Death eaters and such."

"No. When you didn't come back, I tried to get over you, and I did. I'm over you, Jacob. I'm done with our relationship."

Jacob opened his mouth, closed it, and instead kissed Hermione hard. Hermione's eyes widened and she pushed him away immediately.

"Jacob William Smith! Stop being so bloody pushy!"

"Hermione! Give us another chance! I mean, come on, we had our rows, but we're brilliant together!"

"Jacob, not anymore. I'm sorry, really I am, but I've gotten over you. You should do the same."

"You're not with that twat of a bloke Malfoy, are you?"

Hermione frowned. "He's not a twat."

Jacob snorted. "Yes, he is. You knew him in school, Hermione. He was a Death eater! He's someone you fought against!"

"Jacob! This stupid prejudice is not something you should conform to! He's reformed, and he's brilliant. He is not a twat."

"He is a twat, Hermione! Don't tell me you like him!"

"Jacob Smith! I can like whoever I damn want to!"

"Hermione Jean Granger! You cannot fancy Malfoy! It's terrible, wrong, and you can do so much better."

Hermione stood up immediately, fuming. "We'll see about that!" Hermione stomped off into Adison's room with Jacob following. "Malfoy!" Hermione yelled, and Draco ignored her, still scowling.

Hermione stalked through Adison's room, Collette's room, and finally reached her room, still fuming, and reached her goal. She grabbed the lapels of Draco's robes and pulled him down for a kiss, right in front of Jacob.

Draco was quite surprised, but pulled her against him, irritating Jacob even more.

Jacob wrinkled his nose. "That's disgusting! She's my girl still, Malfoy!" Jacob pushed the two apart and glared at Hermione.

"I am not your girl and I won't ever be again, Jacob Smith!" Hermione yelled, stamping her foot like a little girl.

"Hermione! I swear, we broke up for a stupid reason! I love you, Hermione Granger, and if you can't see that over this stupid twat, I don't know what he's done to that usual genius brain of yours!"

Jacob stormed off, and Hermione looked after him, her face incredulous. "Jacob!" she exclaimed, and ran after him. "Stop being such an overly-sensitive _prat_!"

Draco groaned and dropped onto his bum. This stupid soap opera was going to go on forever. How he was going to live the rest of his limited days in the stupid hotel, he didn't know.

Stab, swish, flick, swish, flick, stab, flick, stab, swish, stab, flick, swish…

"Patefacio Ianua," Draco said with a sigh. A bright light sparked from his wand, but nothing else. Draco sighed again. Seven hours had passed, and Hermione was still gone. She and Smith had most likely made up and were now probably fucking away somewhere in his room.

Stab, swish, flick, swish, flick, stab, flick, stab, swish, stab, flick, swish…

"Patefacio Ianua."

Another bright spark, another disappointed sigh.

Draco suddenly threw his wand across the room and lied down. "Merlin," he said with a groan and covered his eyes with his arm. "There is no way I can ever fancy anyone like stupid Granger again. There's no way Calista'll take me back now, after six years of no contact. Maybe one of those stupid birds in the other room'll have me. After all, they're only seven years younger. They'd be a good fuck. Fuck!" Draco sighed again. "I'm done for. I'm becoming a bloody pedophile."

Draco pounded his fist against the floor, his eyes still covered, when Hermione walked in silently through the hole in the wall with her clothes disheveled and her hair a mess. She looked bright and happy, and when she saw Draco on the floor, she went over and plopped down beside him with a smile. He slowly uncovered his eyes to see her greasy face, and he sighed heavily.

"Oh Granger, how corking to see you," he said sarcastically, mocking Jacob's words. "How'd things with Smith go?"

Hermione grinned. "It's better now."

Draco covered his eyes again. "Great," he replied unhappily.

"What's wrong with you? You seem unusually upset!"

Draco shook his head.

"Yes, something is bothering you, Malfoy!"

"Nothing is bothering me."

"Oh, don't lie!"

Draco sat up slowly and eyed her coldly. "I'm glad you and Smith are back together," he lied, and Hermione beamed.

"That's the best part!" she exclaimed. "He and I _aren't_ together at all!"

Draco raised his brows in surprise. "What?"

"We talked it over for a long time, him going low enough even to say that we were going to die together anyhow, but then he finally got it through his thick head that I was over him! He made some nasty remarks, always somehow insulting both you and I—"

"What did he say?" Draco asked, a bit defensively, and Hermione rolled her eyes.

" 'You have a thing for blondes, Hermione'," she said, mimicking her ex-boyfriend. " 'And if I'm a prat, you seem to have a thing for prats too!' Oh, and he said something like, 'He'll never love you the way I do Hermione, and if you can't see that then you've gone barmy! Maybe working with a Death eater went to your bloody head!' He's stupid." Hermione rolled her eyes again. "I swear, he reminds me of Ron so much."

Draco laughed dryly. "Right. You must have a thing for thick-headed prats like them."

Hermione chuckled. "Oh? And who do you have a thing for?"

Draco smirked. "I've got a thing for know-it-alls."

Hermione's eyes widened when Draco winked, and she blushed.

"Why didn't you get back with him anyway?" he asked, and she shrugged.

"I didn't really like him, much less love him. I've changed a lot in nine months too. And you're right; he does have something of an equine face. I don't want to get back with him anyhow. I'm glad there's been some closure."

Draco smiled and nodded. "I'm glad for you too."

He spontaneously leant in and kissed her cheek before grinning broadly and getting up to use the loo in Collette's room.

Hermione touched her cheek and smiled.

"When I'm bored, I just swish and flick and stab. It's a harmless spell, and it makes off a bright light and does nothing. See?" Hermione said, showing off the counter-curse she and Draco had created. She was sitting in the shade of an oak in a grassy field with her mystery lover, his arm around her snugly as she swished her wand around.

"That's quite impressive," he said with a grin (one that Hermione knew he was grinning, although she couldn't quite see it), and he copied her movements perfectly. Hermione's heart went careening against her ribcage at his smile, and she blushed prettily.

"Thank you. I actually, not to sound arrogant or anything, am quite impressed myself. Although I do have to thank Malfoy for it."

"Oh, Malfoy this, Malfoy that. You've talked about him quite a lot, lately."

Hermione sighed. "Well, that's very true, I suppose. I do like him so much."

"And not me?"

Hermione smiled and wrapped her arms around the mysterious man's neck. "Oh, you know I _love_ you."

The words suddenly echoed as hundereds of familiar male faces passed through her head, all which were potential identities of her male suitor, whether or not they were single. Harry, Ron, Cormac, Ernie, Jacob, Malfoy, Neville, Seamus, Dean, George, Dennis, Justin, Anthony, Terry, Michael, Lee, Zabini, Harry, Ron, Cormac, Ernie, Jacob, Malfoy, Neville, Seamus, Dean, George, Dennis, Justin, Anthony, Terry, Michael, Lee, Zabini, _Harry, Ron, Cormac, Ernie, Jacob,_ _Malfoy_…

Hermione woke herself mentally and sat up, breathing hard. It felt like a nightmare, but it…wasn't. Hermione put a hand on her sweaty forehead and sighed. "It was just a dream, Hermione, just a dream," she told herself, then realised suddenly that she had come so close to knowing who the man in her dreams was. She groaned and looked down at Malfoy, who was sleeping quite close to her. Hermione sighed, wrinkled her nose, and lay down again, facing away from him and willing herself to go back to sleep. Just to have another chance to face the man of her dreams again, and to know his identity…

This time, Hermione awoke slowly, to the greasy smell of her hair. Her dream had been a pleasant one; she had dreamt of that mysterious man again, and they had gotten married and had a child that looked exactly like Hermione. She sighed. The identity of her mystery love would never be revealed, or so it seemed. It was getting quite annoying.

* * *

**A/N: Well, well! Nice chapter, eh? Who is her mystery lover? Is the conflict with Jacob over? What'll Draco do next? Ooh, suspense! Just wait till the next chapter! Review, please! And tell me what you think the answers to the questions are...or if you've thought of some of your own! -LoVeDoNtHaTe**


	8. Finally, the Confession

Draco sat with his left arm around Hermione the next afternoon, his right hand playing with his wand, as she sat snuggled under his arm, playing with her wand as well.

"It's good wand practice," she was saying, and he nodded. "Patefacio Ianua!"

A bright spark, then nothing.

"I suppose its just fun to make our wand spark without it having any other disastrous effects."

Draco nodded again.

"But I suppose it has to be good for something, I mean, a spark comes out of the wand. That has to account for something, right? Perhaps our wands are now defunct, because I'm sure that this counter-curse should work. After all, it's made correctly. Or perhaps we're missing something—"

"Do you ever shut up?" Draco asked lazily, and she scowled at him.

"Perhaps. I just talk a lot—"

"—when you're nervous?" he finished. "How old are we, Granger? Twenty-six and twenty-five. I think we're passed that whole phase."

"It's not a phase, Malfoy. It's forever."

"Besides, why should you be nervous and blubbering around me? You've been all right around me for a long time. Seven years, nearly. Fourteen if you count our school days."

"Because we've never been this close, if you know what I mean."

"Can you clarify?" He was smirking.

"Stop teasing, Malfoy. I shan't clarify for the likes of you."

"Oh, you wound me, Hermione."

"You? Wounded? Ha. I can do far better than that."

Draco smirked again and wrapped both his arms around her. "Oh, I'm sure you can."

Hermione made a face. "You need a good shower."

"You're no better off, love."

Hermione pushed him away. "Okay, we both need to shower, but we can't, lest the stupid misty hand comes out again. Merlin."

Draco rolled his grey eyes. "So we're going to die two smelly, greasy Aurors. Yuck."

"Mhm. I'm not looking forward to it quite so much. I just…I still feel really guilty that we failed."

"Hermione, it's been twelve days. We're suffering just like they are. You know we could just jump out the window now that we've got wands and all. We could get everyone to! That's a splendid idea!"

Draco jumped up, but Hermione grabbed his hand, and he looked down at her. "Malfoy, don't you realise? We can't get to everyone in this hotel without passing through the halls, and besides, we'd be abandoning some of the civilians in this hotel. And anyway, the Death eaters looking for us. They didn't capture this hotel just for the sake of trapping civilians."

"We have a better chance of getting everyone free if we get out."

"But it's not for sure!"

"So we're just going to stay here rendered helpless like civilians? You got to take a chance, Hermione."

"Draco, we can't! There are Aurors out there doing their job. Plus, it's no use! Remember, there's a shield blocking all magic from the outside? We're the only hope to free this whole hotel from the inside!"

"Why don't we tell Collette and Adison and Smith to jump?"

"Because! We don't fully know what the outcome might be! The Aurors themselves are definitely working on the counter-curse, but you being a former Death eater would only know its actual origin. Hmm, fancy that."

Draco chuckled. "Oh yes, the bright side of being a former Death eater."

"Only one of many," Hermione retorted, smiling, and he kissed her nose.

"Yeah right."

"What's up with you, though? I mean, suddenly, since yesterday, you've been cuddling up to me a lot more than usual. And it's gotten quite unnerving, to tell you the truth."

Draco chuckled and sat, still holding her hand. "Well, since we only have a limited span of days to live, I'll tell you. But I mean, isn't it obvious?" he murmured, planting a kiss on her hand. "I'm so madly in love with you."

"What?" Hermione exclaimed, pulling away immediately. "What did you just say?"

"You heard me," he said, a pink tint appearing on his face.

Hermione was in complete shock, gaping in the most unlady-like fashion, but…_Draco Malfoy_ in love with _Hermione Granger_? Unheard of!

"You must be lying," Hermione exclaimed, voicing her thoughts. Draco swallowed and shook his head, his eyes on the floor.

"Hermione—"

"Tell me! When did this…_this_ start?" she asked, waving her arm wildly to accentuate her point.

"Almost six years ago."

"_Six years…_! Wait…six years ago? Didn't you say you broke it off with Calista six years ago?"

"You…yes. Six years ago, I fell in love with you, making me see how utterly foolish I was in proposing to Calista. It wouldn't have been fair to either of us, me head-over-heels for someone else, and she dragged along in a marriage with a bloke who didn't love her the way he had thought."

Hermione's jaw dropped in shock again. "So you…you broke it off with Calista, you broke her heart, because of _me_? Hermione Granger?"

"The one and only."

Hermione's mouth opened and closed twice, till she finally looked away in exasperation. "What the hell!"

Draco smirked at her. "Not quite what you expected?"

"Um, no, not at all! What the hell!"

"Hermione," he said with a sheepish grin, "it's not that hard to fall for someone like you." He brushed her bangs out of her face, and she glowered at him.

"So Calista got dumped because of me? Thank you for adding even more to my guilt!"

"Oh, Hermione, stop being so melodramatic. That was six years ago. Six! She's probably off and wed now!"

"I know! But…I mean, still! For Merlin's sake, stay away from me. Now that I know you like me, or you're _in love _with me, rather, I think it's going to be quite awkward for me."

"So it was better I kissed you when you didn't know what my feelings were towards you?"

"Well, I mean, I thought that you were just using me, because I was a girl, and you a boy, and that we could…you know, just cuddle up because we'd be spending our last days with only each other in this blasted hotel. I mean, I didn't know you actually cared for me! I'm sorry, but…I just…" Her incredulous voice softened along with her facial expression, and she pat his shoulder. "I don't reciprocate your feelings, Draco. I'm honestly very sorry. I don't mean to…you know, break your heart or anything. I mean, I hardly knew you even had a heart before we got stuck in here. And I mean, come on, did you really expect me to from all our past arguments? Not that it really matters anymore. Besides, although I do enjoy having you as a friend, I just feel like if we were something more, it would be strange. I don't mean to hurt your feelings or anything, really, I hope you aren't hurt or anything, I'm really sorry, I'm really, really sorry and—"

"You're doing it again," Draco pointed out with a little smirk. Hermione was flustered.

"Oh. Yes, I know. I'm just, you know, a bit nervous. Or, whatever. Sorry about that. I really didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"No harm taken." Draco smiled. "I know you'll fancy me sooner or later."

Hermione laughed, grateful for his tension-breaking joke.

"I mean, you really don't have a choice; it's either me or Smith, and you've already broken up with him. Hell, Hermione, you must have some kind of charm that attracts boys to you like flies to honey. I mean, you already got two blokes that are in love with you, both who are coincidentally in this hotel, trapped, like you."

Hermione put her arms around herself. "I've got no real charm. I'm just smart," she admitted cockily, and he laughed.

"Oh, yes, Hermione, you are smart. How could anyone forget."

He made to hug her again, but she moved away. "I just…feel awkward. Nothing…well, yes it's personal. I'm sorry, Malfoy."

Draco shrugged. "As long as you don't go running off to Smith again, I won't be devastated."

Hermione grinned. "Oh, don't worry about that."

Draco twirled his wand around his fingers carelessly, zoned out. Hermione had gone to Smith's room for a little talk, or whatever, and was sleeping now. She wouldn't disturb Draco's thoughts. Her response to his confession was somewhat foreseen, but the whole rejection part was not. She didn't like him? Wasn't it in all those stupid novels that the heroine fell for her partner when they were trapped together in some close proximity? He should've known better than that. Life wasn't some romance novel, where the hero always got the heroine in the end. Well, technically, the hero would be her two best mates, but that was beside the point. Hermione and Potter together? Or even better, Hermione and Weasley? The whole world would have a field day!

Draco cringed at the thought. 'If that ever happened, I'd puke,' he thought grimly, and tried to set a warming charm around the room. It only got colder. Draco let out an irate shout and kicked the wall in frustration. He leant against the wall again and sighed. "I hate this," he muttered, and decided to peek out the shower curtain. Collette and Adison were sleeping soundly on the large bed, and he walked in silently to use the loo.

When he exited their room, he saw Hermione up and delirious. She was rubbing her honey eyes and blinking at everything strangely, her eyes foggy. "Hermione?" he asked softly, and she blinked at him before grinning widely.

"Dracooooo," she slurred happily before pulling him down for a sloppy kiss. Draco pulled back with a cringe and wiped his mouth.

"Hermione? You're acting really strangely."

"Merlin, am I?" she asked, and nearly fell to the side from her sitting position.

"Yes! Yes, you are. What is wrong with you?"

Hermione frowned and checked herself. "I don't knooow, Dracooo. I'm feeling a little weird now." She checked her forehead and her pulse. "I dunno, nothing's wrong with me soooo far." She giggled uncharacteristically, and Draco blinked. Merlin, this was one weird—

He stopped thinking when his head was pulled down again for a passionate kiss.

"Mmm, Merlin," Hermione moaned when she pulled away. She looked seriously into his light eyes. "All I know is that I want to keep kissing yoooou."

She leant in again and Draco closed his eyes, his heart clamoring against his ribcage. Suddenly, the shower curtain was pulled back and the two broke apart to look at the intruder. Jacob was watching angrily.

"Damnit!" he yelled. "Damnit! I knew if I let her go back to her room she'd fall for _him_ instead!"

"What?" Draco asked, standing. Hermione wrapped her arms around Draco's leg, and he looked down at her briefly in surprise.

"Damnit!" was all Jacob responded with, and Draco's eyes narrowed.

"What did you do to her?" he all but growled.

Jacob folded his arms angrily and scowled. "None of your business."

"Tell me, you wanker! What did you do to her?"

"None of your business!"

"Fucking tell me!"

"No!"

"What did you do to her?"

"Nothing you need—"

A wand was brought out and he quieted. "Tell me before I curse you," Draco said darkly, and Jacob held his hands up in an act of surrender.

"God, you Aurors always have to bring out the bloody wand. Fine, you cheater! I fed her a love potion. Happy? Always keep one handy on me, just in case I find the right girl. She was _supposed_ to go to sleep in _my_ room, but I suppose she doesn't trust me because she argued with me, half-asleep, and I finally let her go back stumbling to _your _room. She was supposed to fall devastatingly in love with the first person she saw, who was _supposed _to be me, but it was you instead! Merlin, this is so wrong."

"How long is it supposed to last?" Draco finally asked darkly, his wand never faltering.

"Only for an hour. I wanted to—"

"I don't care what you were going to do!" Draco yelled. "Petrificus totalus!"

Jacob fell flat on his back and, in his ire, Draco roughly picked him up and stormed through the two rooms connecting theirs, and threw Jacob onto the ground, tying him up with another spell, before storming back to his room where he all but glued the shower curtain to the wall.

Hermione was still sitting there, blinking, still drunk on the love potion, and she blinked again when Draco knelt down in front of her. Hermione grinned and threw her arms around his neck, trying to kiss him again, but he held her face away from his.

"Hermione," he said, swallowing and trying to quiet his own desperate want to kiss her, "You're not really all here. Your emotions are all mucked up right now because of a stupid potion Jacob fed you. Hey! Pay attention!" He waved a hand in front of her face, and she blinked. "You don't really like me! Or…that's what you think." He smirked a little, and Hermione frowned in confusion.

"I _love_ you Dracoooo!" she slurred, and he rolled his eyes.

"Merlin, Granger, I'm afraid of how you'd be when you're really drunk."

Hermione just tried to kiss him again.

An hour later, Hermione was locked in the loo while Draco lay on his back on the floor outside, staring at the ceiling. Hermione had stopped pounding on the door, had finished crying her eyes out, and was now quiet in the loo. At that moment, Draco wished for some way to tell the time, and he sighed.

"Malfoy?" came Hermione's soft voice, and he sat up slowly.

"Hmm?"

"Can I come out now?"

"I don't know how long it's been."

"I—I think I'm alright now."

"You sure you're not going to ravish me on the spot?" He could nearly hear her blush when she spoke again.

"I think you've got enough witches doing that."

Draco was next to the door now, and he smirked. "Damn straight," he replied airily, and opened the door for her.

Hermione looked a mess. She had a bright red tear-stained face and even wilder hair, her perm long gone, but her natural smile stood out, and it made Draco feel loads better. Right now, _he_ wanted to ravish her on the spot.

"Yeah, I think I'm good now," she said, blushing again and avoiding his starry gaze. "I'm, um, sorry you had to…you know…deal with that."

"You mean your behaviour? If you were like that again, I wouldn't mind at all," he said with a wink. "Just as long as you were yourself."

Hermione blushed deeper. "Um, okay. Well, uh, okay." She waltzed past Draco and nearly buried herself under the enlarged coat in embarrassment. Draco followed her slowly with a chuckle.

"Goodnight, Hermione."

She was thinking too hard to hear him.

* * *

**A/N: I hope you like this! Two chapters in a span of two days! oh my! Ha, ha! Well, enjoy! Please review and tell me what you think the outcome might be! And it's spring break for me! Yay! Please review! It'll make my week! :D -LoVeDoNtHaTe**


	9. Resolutions!

The next morning, Hermione was obviously avoiding him like the plague. The one time Jacob had the absolute audacity to try and talk to Hermione (Adison and Collette had untied him gladly), she had yelled at him and shot a nasty hex that he'd barely dodged. He hadn't visited since.

Hermione, however, was also avoiding Draco, however she managed that. She talked nonstop with the annoying teenagers just so she wouldn't have to relive the other night, and Draco was bored, and a bit annoyed, out of his mind.

Finally, he levitated her to their room near the afternoon and _did_ glue the curtain to the wall, making sure no one would disturb them.

"Hermione," he said exasperatedly when she went to the window. "We've got to talk."

"I wasn't myself!" she said quickly, and he nodded.

"I know."

"I'm sorry if you got any…wrong ideas from my obviously wanton behaviour…last night," she said, blushing again. "Can we just please forget about it?"

Draco nodded, his heart plummeting a little. "Absolutely. Whatever you want."

"I'm sorry. Really, I am. I blame it on Jacob."

"He did give you the love potion. Good thing you came back here!" Draco said with a light-hearted laugh, and Hermione smiled, finally turning and meeting his grey eyes.

"I'm really glad I did come back. Merlin, can you imagine? I could've been shagging that wanker."

Draco cringed. "Merlin, Hermione, don't give me images!"

"Sorry."

They were quiet again, and Hermione slid to the floor with a large sigh. Draco sat on the floor as well on the opposite side of the room. It was quiet for a moment.

"Those two girls were really a bore," Hermione finally said, and Draco laughed.

"I could imagine. They seem quite stuck-up."

"Yeah, they're just as egotistical as you were. I suppose the war softened both of us up a bit."

"I agree, although that's not really what war usually does?"

Hermione nodded and bit her bottom lip, staring at her partner. Draco was playing with his wand, and when he looked up at her, she quickly looked down at her own borrowed wand, her face slowly warming in embarrassment.

Hermione finally looked up again when she felt her face at its normal temperature again, and she smiled at Draco.

"I'm so bored." She began swishing her wand around and decided to perform the defunct 'counter-curse' again, and she sighed. How routine their last days were becoming. Stab, swish, flick, swish, flick, stab, flick, stab, swish, stab, flick, swish…

"Patefacio Ianua," she said with a heavy sigh, and waited for the bright spark. Instead, a spinning, light purple mist shot out that got thicker as it came out longer, like a piece of ribbon. Both Draco and Hermione were gaping at the spell. The purple mist was becoming darker and larger till it finally encompassed the whole room and stuck to the floor and walls like paint, leaving Hermione and Draco the only ones unaffected by the spell. A sudden loud bang was heard, like a gunshot, and both Aurors jumped in surprise. The purple mist disappeared, leaving the room free of the spell.

Hermione's jaw dropped again, and suddenly she jumped up, laughing.

"Oh Merlin, Draco, we did it!" she exclaimed in absolute euphoria.

"God, Hermione, you're a genius!" He stood and kissed her firmly. "You're a bloody fucking genius!" He kissed her again.

Hermione just laughed. "It must've been the number thirteen! Thirteen days, twelve wand movements and the incantation, making the spell needing thirteen things to make it work—why didn't I get this sooner? It seems like the number thirteen isn't unlucky after all!" She laughed again.

"I think we have to perform the counter-curse to wherever is affected now, such as the tap, the hallway, and outside, obviously. Hopefully if we do it in the pipes, or in the hallway, it'll affect the whole hotel and take care of the curse for good!" she continued, beaming at him.

"Genius!" Draco exclaimed, and went to the pipes in the loo. Hermione went to the window and performed the counter-curse.

"Patefacio Ianua!" she yelled, and the purple stream shot out, encompassing the whole building like a blanket before sticking to it like paint. The Aurors outside were dumbfounded, and finally, when the purple subsided, they rode their brooms to the windows and found they were able to enter.

Hermione ran, happy beyond belief, to the door and performed the wand movements before smashing her wand through the glass in the tiny peephole on the door and yelling the incantation. The purple went out and encompassed the hallway, and then it was quiet outside, and Hermione recklessly opened the door. There was no death trap waiting right outside anymore.

"It's done! The curse is off!" Hermione yelled in the middle of the hallway, enchanting her voice to make it louder. Draco had finished the pipes and had alerted the others of the now curse-free hotel, and the two Aurors met in the hallway where others were slowly gathering.

"Yes!" she said with a laugh, and Draco chuckled and picked her up and twirled her around.

"You're an absolute genius, Hermione Granger!" he exclaimed, and she laughed again.

"I couldn't have done it without you!" she said, looking down at him shyly, and he chuckled, putting her back on her feet.

"Well, seems like we can't do without each other," he said with a grin, brushing a brown curl away from her face. Hermione smiled brightly.

"It's a damn good thing we're partners, then!" she said happily, and ran off to lead the others down. Draco chuckled as he watched her gambol down the hall, talking happily to everyone she bumped into. He followed after her.

* * *

"I am so impressed."

Draco and Hermione looked at each other with a grin. They were in the Head Auror's office, the morning after finally leaving the hotel, both of them clean and smelling nice. There were Aurors now tracing the curse back to the Death eaters that had set it up. Draco and Hermione were going to join them, but, at the moment, both Aurors were soaking up their long overdue praise.

"I mean, during your _holiday_, you were able to think up a counter-curse, and it actually worked!"

"It wasn't just on chance, Harry," Hermione beamed, and Harry Potter grinned, his green eyes sparkling.

"I know! Which is even more amazing! You two swotty Aurors remembered everything you ever learnt!"

"Got that right," Draco said with a smirk.

"I ought to give you _medals_ for your work! Bloody hell! I've never been so impressed in my entire life."

"Well if you're done, Hermione and I've got work to do."

"You know, I was actually thinking of splitting you two before you left," Harry continued, ignoring Malfoy.

"What?" Hermione exclaimed. "Why would you think of such a thing?"

"Well, I mean, you weren't really bonding and since you two were so skilled on your own, you might've brought success to another Auror who wasn't as good. But bloody hell, this blows my theories out of the water! I'm never going to separate you two! Your brains, Hermione, and your past experiences, Malfoy, both bounce off each other so much, you really don't need anyone else. If someone told you to create people, I'm sure you could do the whole bloody thing!"

Hermione laughed. "I don't think so."

"We probably could," Draco said with a smirk, and Hermione rolled her eyes good-naturedly at him.

"Well, Merlin. I'm blown out of my mind. You two can go now."

Hermione laughed and kissed her best mate on the cheek before walking out the door Draco opened for her. Once they shut the door on the flabbergasted Harry Potter, they burst out laughing.

"Gods, he's so funny! It's like he didn't know we could do something like that!"

Draco nodded, chuckling. "We totally exceeded his expectations."

"Oh yes! No surprise there, though."

They grinned at each other for a moment, and he put his hands in his pockets and looked down at her again, wanting to kiss her. The whole kissing and lovey-dovey conversations ordeal had disappeared since the hotel. It was as if in that hotel, they had been in another world, in another time where they could do things like that with no consequences. Hermione still claimed to be unattracted to him in that way, while Draco continued to be attracted to her, but from a distance, like old times.

Only once had they had such a conversation concerning the romantic events that had happened in the hotel, the same evening they had been freed. He had flooed to her flat, and Hermione had told him profusely (but in a kind way) that she was unattracted to him. They were better off like this, Hermione had thought, and Draco had been silent. Now, however, they were both friendly towards each other, the conversation along with the events in the hotel seemingly gone from their thoughts. Only seemingly.

Hermione finally looked down at her feet and back up at him. "Well, better get to work, eh?"

"Right you are, as usual."

Hermione grinned and took his offered arm.

Together, they went back to their double-roomed office, one conflict still unsolved; the one concerning unrequited love.

* * *

**A/N: And every conflict must be resolved! At least in my stories. Thank you so much for reading! Please review and tell me how you think it's going to end! Without stating the obvious, of course. Haha! Thank you for reading, and, once again, please review! -LoVeDoNtHaTe**


	10. The Final Resolution

An alarm went off in Draco's flat, telling him that someone was arriving in his Floo, and he sat up and yawned sleepily before pulling on a plain white shirt.

At three in the bloody morning.

He got up, grabbing his wand along the way, and stumbled to the Floo to see Hermione Granger in his fireplace, still dressed in her black work robes. He dropped onto the couch and rubbed his eyes.

"What is it?" he muttered, and Hermione fidgeted nervously.

"I've got to tell you something super important."

"It couldn't wait till the morning?" he asked as he yawned again, and lied down on the couch.

"No, it can't. I couldn't sleep at all!"

Draco closed his eyes.

"Are you listening?"

"Mhm," Draco mumbled sleepily, and Hermione began ranting about something. Draco dozed off on the couch, everything going straight passed his head, and when she stopped talking, he almost forgot she was there till he opened his grey eyes, seeing her expectant face.

"What?" he muttered, still obviously asleep. "What's wrong?"

"I'VE BEEN RAPED, YOU FOOL!"

Draco sat up right away. "What? Why didn't you call the Aurors immediately?"

"You are an Auror, Draco."

"Who was it? Did he hurt you? I'm going to kill the bloody person!" Draco ran off to his room and Hermione quickly followed.

"Draco! Calm down! I just said that to wake you up, and it worked."

Draco froze and felt his jaw clench when he turned to look at her. "That's not funny, Hermione."

"I know, but I had to do something! But, anyway, I really do need to tell you something important."

"What is so bloody important that you got me all worked up for?"

"Draco, I am positively, undeniably, and irrevocably in love with you. I don't know why I couldn't accept it sooner."

Draco felt himself slowly turn into jelly. "What?" he asked softly in disbelief.

"I'm in love with you, Draco!" she yelled with a little giggle. She smiled at him. "There. Now your neighbours think I've been raped and in love. Oh well. Like they didn't know you and I were mad already." She smiled.

"Seriously?" Draco breathed, his arms and legs now useless.

"So serious that I would kiss you right now if you weren't so stiff."

"You're in love with me?"

"Merlin, Draco! How thick are you? I'm in love with Draco Malfoy, I'm in love with Draco Malfoy, I'm in love with you, Draco Malfoy! Good enough?"

Draco could only see stars in his eyes right now. He fell backwards onto his bed, rendered useless for a moment. He heard Hermione giggle and she went to the side of his bed and sat on it. She watched him take it all in with amusement, and reached out a hand to touch his already tousled white-blonde hair. Draco turned his head to look at her, his light eyes shining.

"Do you really mean it?"

Hermione rolled her eyes exasperatedly and got up and began to walk out. "Do you really think I would've come over here at three in the morning just to joke with you?"

"Merlin, Hermione," Draco said with a big grin. He retained the feeling back into his body and got up onto his feet and had her in his arms in a few long strides. Hermione just scrunched her eyes up against his shoulder and smiled.

"You are definitely one hard witch to convince. I knew you fancied me," Draco drawled haughtily.

Hermione laughed and smacked his arm. "Oh, you! Maybe I was joking with you after all."

"Do you really think you'd come over here at three in the morning just to joke with me?" he asked, mocking her.

"Oh, shut up."

Draco grinned down at her and leant down to kiss her, both of them captivated, finally, in the other.

"Oh, Draco," she breathed when they pulled away.

"You're a wanker for keeping me in suspense for so long," he replied with a wink, and kissed her again.

Hermione suddenly remembered her reoccurring dream when they broke apart again for air. Her lover's face had finally been revealed, that night in fact, and she could still laugh about it. Ronald Bilius Weasley. He was supposed to be her love. Thank God it was only a dream.

Hermione laughed a little.

"What?" Draco asked, a little unnerved, and Hermione just shook her head with a grin and pulled his head down, engulfing him in another mind-blowing kiss.

_fin_

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**A/N: Thank you all for reading! This was a grand story to write, and I hope you all enjoyed it. Review and give me your thoughts on it! It'll help me to become a better writer! Thanks again! -LoVeDoNtHaTe**


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